Nick Ramsay: Thank you. I appreciate fully that it’s the initial responsibility of the Member in charge, but you do, Cabinet Secretary, have an overall responsibility for the financial robustness of the Welsh Government—no easy task, I appreciate. And I do appreciate that the whole process with the regulatory impact assessments is a developing process, and I’m sure that the review being carried out...
Nick Ramsay: Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's policies for supporting farming?
Nick Ramsay: Can I firstly concur with the earlier comments, made by the Member for Carmarthen east, on the Circuit of Wales? We are going to be looking at this on the Public Accounts Committee later this month, so, clearly, as Chair of that, I will be holding back on my views until then. However, it would be appropriate, I think, for us to have a decision in the wake of our committee deliberations as...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for bringing forward this statement today and for advance sight, indeed, of the tax policy framework document. Rest assured I will try to steer clear of any dog-eat-dog, neo-liberal comments—not usually my style, but I suppose there’s always a first time—but, in the case of this document, there was a lot here that we can...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, I’m happy to be vocal in favour of the devolution of air passenger duty to this Assembly. I’m sorry if you haven’t quite heard our calls on that over the last few weeks and months, but, certainly, that is our position. Nathan Gill, in his question, was right to refer to tax devolution as the next big development in devolution within Wales—indeed, in the devolved parts...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, thank you for your statement today, and the speed with which you brought it forward. Our thoughts and prayers are, of course, with the victims and their families of the terrible fire that consumed the Grenfell Tower in west London last week. The images were truly horrific and will live with many people for the rest of their lives. We need to ensure that nothing similar...
Nick Ramsay: Can I firstly, Cabinet Secretary, welcome the introduction of Stage 3 of the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill? We’ve spent a long time talking about how historic the introduction of LTT was as the first Welsh tax in so many hundreds of years, and this is clearly also historic—the second, and I suppose the Buzz Aldrin to the Neil Armstrong, if you were looking for a space analogy, which...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to speak to the lead amendment and to move the lead amendment of group 2 on the definition of intent. We’ve tabled this amendment—section 6, page 3, line 29, if you want the exact details—saying that after ‘waste’ we should insert ‘and the definition of intent’, as it provides for the flexibility to revisit the issue of intent....
Nick Ramsay: Diolch. As I said in opening this group, group 2, and moving this amendment, this amendment is actually a compromise on the original amendment tabled at Stage 2, a point recognised by the Cabinet Secretary, and merely seeks to clarify definitions and ensure that Welsh Government legislation does not clash with UK legislation. The issues that the Cabinet Secretary has put forward today are...
Nick Ramsay: I will withdraw, then.
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that. I have no wish to go through the majority of these amendments either, because, as my chief whip has said, it’s sunny outside and we don’t want to be here until the dark hours. However, Welsh Conservatives will be supporting all of these amendments, apart from—we do have an issue with the first amendment, the lead amendment, and perhaps you can...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. Cabinet Secretary, Welsh Conservatives will be supporting the lead amendment in this group, which appears, as you suggested, to alter a drafting—to correct, I should say—a drafting issue in the original provision. Turning to our amendment 53, I’m very pleased to hear that you’ve decided to accept that amendment; I thought that that would be your position given the...
Nick Ramsay: Welsh Conservatives support this amendment in principle. However, Steffan Lewis has—I would say inadvertently, but probably advertently—hit upon an interesting aspect with the way that this tax proceeded in committee at Stage 2. We did have discussions about that balance, that very important balance between having a tax that is there to raise funds, and we know we’re going to lose money...
Nick Ramsay: Yes, you’re completely right. When the UK tax was brought in, that was the reason. But, of course, this is a devolved tax and we’re losing money through the block grant once it’s devolved. So, over time, as the tax diminishes, then, clearly, that amount would diminish. Now, I’m not saying that that’s not happening at the UK level. Clearly, there is a fall-off in the tax, but we have...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to move the lead amendment of the final group. The Scottish Government has provided information about the Scottish Revenue Authority sharing back-office functions in light of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013. Due to straitened public finances and the need to provide value for money, the WRA should start, we feel, as...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. This was, in many ways, a probing amendment. We did have this discussion, as you said, at Stage 2, Cabinet Secretary. It was all part of the discussion about how independent the WRA is, how much of an arm’s-length body it will be, or how much controlled by the Welsh Government. As I’ve said with the previous amendment that Steffan Lewis tabled, I’m not entirely sure that...
Nick Ramsay: Move.
Nick Ramsay: Move.
Nick Ramsay: Will the First Minister make a statement on the proportion of Monmouthshire residents able to receive superfast broadband by the end of the current contract with BT Openreach?
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, three years ago this month I brought forward a short debate to this Chamber calling on the Welsh Government to look at better ways of supporting people suffering from motor neurone disease, an extremely cruel condition that afflicts its sufferers massively. This month is MND awareness month, and the Motor Neurone Association are promoting the My Eyes Say campaign. Three...
