Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. I think the primary question, Cabinet Secretary, that I'd like to pose at the start of my contribution this afternoon is: what is this budget seeking to achieve? Is it simply trying to allocate funding to different budgets—in the past once perfectly acceptable? Or is it trying to do more than that, to address longer term challenges and to seek a real fundamental...
Nick Ramsay: You're just trying to distract me, aren't you, from my budget debate. [Laughter.] I'll speak to you in the tearoom.
Nick Ramsay: The answer is that it's this Welsh Government that is responsible for running public services in Wales. I don't defend everything that the UK Government do—I never have. I'm sure you don't defend everything that the UK Labour Party—. I know you don't defend everything the UK Labour Party did. [Laughter.] So, we're probably quits on that score. But this is about the budget for Wales and...
Nick Ramsay: Well, it's a shame that the overspending of the previous Labour Government took place at the time it did, and perhaps—[Interruption.]—perhaps—. Go on then; I'm feeling generous.
Nick Ramsay: But, of course, it would've been a lot higher had the Conservative policies not been implemented, because you can't turn a supertanker around—[Interruption.] I'm not going to let you have any more interventions; I've been very generous. You can't turn a supertanker around overnight, and the deficit has come down, maybe not as much as we would've liked, I admit that, but there we are,...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. I'm just getting my head around what you said a few moments ago. You seem to have been saying to your constituent that you think it's right that the Welsh Government should not spend money it doesn't have and, therefore, act responsibly, but you're quite happy for the UK Government to borrow as much as it wants, so long as the money comes down the line to you. That...
Nick Ramsay: When I'm talking about the longer term, I am thinking about longer than two years and I know that in your heart of hearts as well, Cabinet Secretary, you would ideally like to think longer than two years as well but your hands have been tied by this deal you've had to make. And I'm sorry you don't like my amendment, but I always was a Star Trek fan so I like to split the odd infinitive.
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, yesterday was Welsh budget day. Can I ask you, with regard to that budget, and the effect of it on—[Interruption.] I thought you'd like that, Simon Thomas. The effect of the budget on businesses and small businesses in Wales: can you tell us how you feel that the budget has been good for small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales and, when you take...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I'm glad you mentioned the National Procurement Service. I did raise this with you yesterday in the budget debate. I know that Andrew R.T. Davies mentioned it earlier. It is of key importance in terms of improving procurement procedures in Wales. The Wales Audit Office report into the NPS showed that there were weaknesses in the development of the business case...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. You've had a fair few questions now, today, on procurement. If I can use my final question to ask you about land transaction tax, but not in terms of the residential LTT, which you mentioned yesterday and the changes there, but in terms of commercial LTT, am I right in thinking that, from April, businesses greater than £1 million will be faced with rates of 6...
Nick Ramsay: I think we're all singing from pretty much the same hymn sheet in relation to this question, Cabinet Secretary. The last couple of weeks have seen NatWest announce another swathe of closures across Wales—one in Chepstow in my constituency. The last swathe of banking closures was bad enough out in rural areas, but those cutbacks now seem to be extending to larger towns as well, which I think...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, I'm pleased that you said that you respect the decision of parents who do wish to home school their children. It is a viable legal option and works very well in many cases. But you're also quite right to point out concerns that children who are home schooled need to be monitored in the same way as children who can also disappear from the system when they're actually in what...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, I've also been perusing yesterday's written statement and a permanent business rates relief scheme of the type you've identified was desperately needed, so we welcome the permanence of the new scheme. I've raised over the last months—and years, probably, now—some of the problems that small businesses, particularly high-street businesses in my constituency in Monmouth...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a pleasure to subscribe to and to contribute to this debate this afternoon. The key tenet of this debate, as Lee Waters has alluded to, recognises the importance of a modern public transport network to relieve pressure on our road network. I don't think this is controversial. Well, it certainly shouldn't be. It seems common sense, but how often over...
Nick Ramsay: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policies for supporting enterprise in south-east Wales? OAQ51496
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, First Minister. Happy new year. Yesterday was an historic day for Wales, with the nationalisation of the Severn bridges—something I'm sure you'll welcome—and a reduction in the tolls—a great gateway Wales project. However, this comes only a few weeks after the Welsh Government's call in, and refusal, of a planning application in Monmouth, in my constituency, for a hotel and...
Nick Ramsay: How is the Welsh Government supporting private sector initiatives designed to promote Monmouth as the gateway to south Wales?
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, you were doing so well in that speech, right until the very end, and making so much sense until that little message from the Corbyn mothership was slipped, probably by a member of staff, into your speech. I can't imagine you really believed that comment about austerity at the end. I think you'd probably be harsher on the—. I won't get you into...
Nick Ramsay: 2. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government's priorities for the NHS in Monmouthshire? OAQ51581
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, if I can I ask you about dementia care, there's deep concern in and around Chepstow at the planned closure of the purpose-built dementia ward at Chepstow Community Hospital and the relocation of services to St Woolos Hospital in Newport. Aneurin Bevan local health board have cited staff shortages as one of the reasons for this. This is at consultation phase at the moment. If...
