Mr Simon Thomas: What discussions has the Minister had with HMRC regarding providing tax services in Welsh?
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, 2016 is on track to be the warmest year since records began, and the effects of climate change are already being felt, as we’ve seen, indeed, over the last few days here in Wales. Now, your draft budget proposes cuts of 38 per cent in the capital expenditure for climate change mitigation and flood defence projects. Following the...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary, and I’m pleased that she’s taking the advantage to ask for those to be reinstated. We understand £400 million will be available for the next five years. That would suggest around £80 million in this financial year, though I accept that we have to look at the detail. But we have to show leadership on this, and you’ve just returned from the Conference of...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary. It was obvious from your tweets that you were enjoying yourself there, and I mean that in a professional way, and also, of course, from the written statement, which, again, was full of positive messages from COP22. I only regret that the Assembly didn’t get its act together in time to send Assembly Members to accompany you, because I think that will be...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for that answer, Minister. The seafood strategy you’ve just alluded to—who actually owns that strategy? As I understand it, it’s Seafish Wales’s strategy and not the Government’s strategy. Can you, therefore, confirm that the Government agrees with the strategy and wants to see the aims of that strategy being realised and, specifically, given that the strategy gives a...
Mr Simon Thomas: We haven’t mentioned nitrate vulnerable zones yet, which is one of the tools that the Government is proposing to use to tackle water quality and run-off. Can I draw the Minister’s attention to the approach being taken in parts of France, and particularly in Brittany, which I saw over the summer, where they use an agroforestry approach called ‘bocage’, or ‘argoed’, as we would call...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer— DPO dros dro neu beth bynnag ydych chi ar hyn y bryd—
Mr Simon Thomas: Chair, yes, whatever. Thank you. I am very pleased to have an opportunity to speak in this debate and spare Lee Waters too much embarrassment for being praised too much by Neil Hamilton, I am sure. So, I thank him myself and add to that. I think what’s important in this debate is that we realise that this is already happening and agriculture is a mix of heritage, art and a lot of science...
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Minister make a statement on the progress of plans to establish Yr Egin centre in Carmarthen? EAQ(5)0081(EI)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement and I thank him for confirming that discussions and negotiations have been ongoing for two years and more on this proposal. There was some confusion over the weekend that this scheme relates to the relocation of S4C to Carmarthen. Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm that there is no mention at all of Welsh Government funding being provided for...
Mr Simon Thomas: Could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for environment, energy and climate change regarding future Welsh Government policy towards farming payments and farm support systems in particular? I’m very concerned that the decision to leave the European Union is being used as a Trojan horse by some people to get a land grab onto Welsh devolved policy. We heard the leader of the Welsh...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. May we start by putting out a shout out of thanks to John Selwyn Gummer, who introduced the landfill tax in the first place 20 years ago, and recognise that this emerges from the EU’s landfill directive, or the European Community’s landfill directive? There has been a direct benefit to the environment of Wales as a direct result of that. This is the...
Mr Simon Thomas: 2. What discussions has the Counsel General held with law officers regarding the Wales Bill? OAQ(5)0013(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: 5. Will the Counsel General make a statement on his contribution to the article 50 appeal case brought before the Supreme Court? OAQ(5)0014(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the replies she’s given so far. This is one of the first twenty-first century schools in Pembrokeshire, of course, so we need to learn from this experience, which hasn’t been perfect, but that’s a learning process. And I agree with the Cabinet Secretary that, really, it’s now down to the county council to negotiate properly with the school governors,...
Mr Simon Thomas: It’s clear that within these WESPs you would, hopefully, be seeking to ensure that language streams aren’t being mixed. That’s what’s happening now in Llanrhaedr-ym-Mochnant, as I understand it, given the current cuts—that the foundation phase is being mixed together in terms of language streams. That’s not appropriate or good practice. There are also similar problems developing...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for that response and for pushing the boundaries of the convention as far as he can within this Chamber. I’m not sure if he’s making a rod for his own back here, but far more questions are being posed to him now that he’s answering them, so that’s something to bear in mind. One thing that is true of the Wales Bill, it would appear, is that, unfortunately,...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for that response, and I agree with the decision to become part of this case by the Welsh Government. If I have read the submission to the Supreme Court correctly, the Welsh Government is of the view that article 50 should be triggered through a Bill before the House of Commons—not a motion or simply a vote in the Commons, but a Bill. If that is the case, have you considered the...
Mr Simon Thomas: I will be mainly focusing on business rates, but if I could just follow up on what Jenny Rathbone has just said, no-one is making the case that city centre parking is a panacea in any way. But they should be recognised by their actions, and I notice that the Labour council in Rhondda Cynon Taf have just announced free parking over the Christmas period in order to promote town centres in that...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m not sure if I accept the argument entirely. I accept the evidence that you’ve provided, and it’s one of the things that I want to mention, because it’s one of the issues around parking. One of the things we haven’t done in Wales is to use business rates to look at things such as car parks in supermarkets and out-of-town developments, where there are no taxes at all. So, in...
