Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister provide an update on the construction of new hospitals in south-east Wales?
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister make a statement on winter pressures in the NHS in south-east Wales?
Nick Ramsay: [Inaudible.]—statistics at your fingertips.
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the finance Minister for today's statement? I think it was only last week that I asked the First Minister for an update on the mutual investment model—I think you were sitting in the Chamber at the same time, Minister—so that's certainly efficiency. Leaving aside the usual preamble that features in many Ministers' statements about austerity, there are some very important...
Nick Ramsay: Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's policies for promoting economic growth in south-east Wales?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank all of the Members who've contributed to today's debate? It might have been a little shorter than some debates that we have in this Chamber, but I think that all of the points that Members made were well made and to be welcomed. There have been some recurrent themes that have been touched on by all Members, starting with Mohammad Asghar, who...
Nick Ramsay: We are particularly concerned at the apparent lack of openness and transparency across the whole system. Digital transformation requires an open culture, but the committee found that the culture at NWIS was the antithesis of this. The auditor general’s report identified a pattern of the organisation being 'overly positive' in reporting its progress. The committee’s evidence gathering...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into NHS Wales informatics systems. Members will recall that last November, the Public Accounts Committee published one of its most damning report to date. In fact, 'scathing' was used to describe our 23-page analysis of NHS Wales informatics systems—NWIS for short. In...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, this is the first time I've questioned you in your new role, so congratulations on your appointment. I think it's great that there is this renewed focus and emphasis on fostering international relations between the Assembly and other, sometimes troubled, parts of the world. I see from my diary that on Thursday you're hosting an event in the Senedd setting out your international...
Nick Ramsay: You answered that question without using 'project fear', or I could hear the phrase coming from the other side of the Chamber. I do welcome that commitment, Minister, and I know I've been going on about this now for some time, but I've asked you the question because it is very important to the public. I am starting to get people coming to me, who are concerned. I think it is dawning on people...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. I fully appreciate that you have in the past said, and your predecessor has said, that the intention is not to increase income tax, but it does seem that the ground has moved slightly on this. Certainly, the vocabulary has changed. The First Minister, shortly after he came into post, recently said that it is not the intention to do so. You have again said today that it is...
Nick Ramsay: It is groundhog day again, Minister, because I'm going to ask you about income tax again as it is such an important and pressing issue. Last week, we brought the debate to the Chamber on that pressing devolution of income tax, and you were asked by a number of Members on this side what your intentions were in terms of those rates and your commitment to keeping the rates of tax as they are,...
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the Minister for that answer? Your probably think it's groundhog day and that we did have quite a discussion about this last week. We've been talking about the devolution of income tax now for some considerable length of time, and the reality will soon be with us. As well as the mechanical act of raising taxes, that also requires an accurate forecasting ability, and we know that...
Nick Ramsay: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the devolution of income tax? OAQ53308
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, I'm more than happy to support Mike Hedges in his call for that review of spending on PFI projects within Wales. We do know that some of the early PFIs particularly were very costly, and you've quoted the £100 million a year—£105 million a year—cost figure that the Wales Governance Centre have also provided. Whilst I appreciate that your Government is certainly sceptical...
Nick Ramsay: Yes.
Nick Ramsay: I quite agree with both the points you made there, Mike. Firstly, on Steffan Lewis, he was an invaluable member of the Finance Committee since 2016 when he joined it. I know we all feel not just the sadness of his loss in this Chamber but also the sadness of the loss of that spirit he brought to the committee. He always had a different viewpoint, and in issues like the devolution of...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to move this motion today, brought forward by the Welsh Conservatives. To quote Senator Bobby Kennedy in 1966: 'Like it or not we live in interesting times.' Well, like it or not, we again today live in interesting times, and devolved taxation, whether you like that or not, is with us. As we know, from April 2019, this institution will have the power to...
Nick Ramsay: I think there must be an echo in this Chamber—I know that you discussed this fully with my colleague Mark Isherwood earlier. This was a question that I and my colleague Janet Finch-Saunders regularly posed to your predecessor, Alun Davies, when he was in the local government role, and I'm pleased that we've set the ball rolling again today on this important issue. Now, I understand that...
Nick Ramsay: 5. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Finance about the sustainability of the local government funding formula? OAQ53240
