Adam Price: I was very pleased to be able to speak at a Seren network event in Llanelli on Friday. I think all of us would want to encourage as many Welsh students as possible to apply for these two world-leading education institutions, but also to others in the same category as well—to Trinity College Dublin, to the Sorbonne, to Heidelberg, to Tübingen, and further afield to Princeton, Stanford and...
Adam Price: I would have to declare an interest. But, look, the Diamond review made a commitment that we would actually open access to right across Europe and also have a pilot beyond Europe itself—for North American and other leading institutions. Can the Cabinet Secretary update us on where the Welsh Government are with that proposal?
Adam Price: The common practice, I believe, is to refer the question to the Cabinet Secretary. The Minister yesterday referred to the need for evidence now for the best models in terms of language regulation. I think that the predecessor Minister had only been able to refer to a very general report on regulation from the House of Lords, which went back to 2004. So, there's a lack of an evidence base;...
Adam Price: Earlier this afternoon, Llywydd, the leader of the opposition asked the First Minister whether he still stood by the reply he gave to Darren Millar in 2014 that there had been no allegations of bullying, or whether he had misled the Assembly. Now, the First Minister refused to respond to that question, so we have complete lack of clarity now as to whether the Assembly was misled, which is a...
Adam Price: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road enlargement scheme, following reports that the long-term cost of the project could soar from £428 million to more than £1.2 billion? 68
Adam Price: What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had regarding the Amman Valley railway?
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. As we know, Cabinet Secretary, one of the four companies bidding for the Wales and borders franchise suddenly and unexpectedly pulled out of the process on 30 October. I asked you in a written question what the reasons were for that decision and you said in a written statement on 9 November that that was because of their own commercial analysis of the contract. I...
Adam Price: Cabinet Secretary, isn't the real reason that Arriva pulled out because there are too many unknowns with this franchise? It's difficult for us to form a judgment of that because, of course, the Welsh Government has departed from the standard practice of actually publishing the invitation tender, but we do know, of course, that there are unknowns about the exact nature of the devolution of...
Adam Price: Well, in the debate that later we'll be having on digital infrastructure Members will form their own view on whether Superfast Cymru should be held out as a paragon in terms of what we want to achieve with this contracting process. Can I just paraphrase the answers that he's just given me? So, the Welsh Government hasn't reached final agreement on franchise funding with the UK Government. You...
Adam Price: I was wondering if possibly the Cabinet Secretary could address the key point in the question, which is the concern about the soaring cost, potentially. In the interests of transparency, it is true, isn't it, that this is effectively a modified private finance scheme with a public sector equity stake, but the standard form that is being used was based originally on the Department of Health...
Adam Price: I do think that, as we look at this policy area—it does make you feel particularly depressed, because this was the technology that had the potential for us to undo the disbenefits of being geographically peripheral, or being located in a rural location. It was this technology that was supposed to provide the solution for rural business, but, because of the lack of progress that’s taken...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans for a national academy of government? OAQ51380
Adam Price: What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to including a new strategic hub covering the western valleys of the Amman and Gwendraeth as part of the ministerial taskforce for the valleys?
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to return, if I may, to the Valleys taskforce implementation plan. I think all of us would agree that it contains, at a high level, very, very laudable aims in terms of our communities, and we thank members of the taskforce, and, indeed, all those who took part in the various consultations that occurred across the Valleys areas. But as the Cabinet Secretary, I'm...
Adam Price: Cabinet Secretary, I suppose you and I kind of represent the arc of the Valleys, the former coalfield area—you representing the eastern Valleys, me representing the west. I was wondering if the geography, really, of this strategy at the moment is out of kilter. As we've heard from the leader of my party, really, there are areas in the Rhondda, Cynon, et cetera, which are not represented at...
Adam Price: I was wondering—if we could step back a little bit as well—if we can ask ourselves a deeper question, which I'm not sure is sufficiently addressed yet in the plan that has been published, which is why the initiatives of the past have failed. Because the most sobering reading of all—. I urge honourable—oh, falling into bad habits there. I urge Members to read the engagement study,...
Adam Price: As the Cabinet Secretary is aware, I believe Professor Gerry Holtham has been promoting the idea for some years that there’s an opportunity here for Wales to develop a centre that would be internationally renowned, to create an école nationale, in the words of Professor Holtham, for leaders and managers within the public sector. There are many things that you can say about Professor...
Adam Price: I'm very grateful to the Member. We, obviously, all welcome the creation of an independent adjudication process, but, as has already been said, that should never mean that the First Minister then does not subject himself to ordinary parliamentary scrutiny by Members of this place, and I, and probably other Members now, have received written replies back to written questions where the First...
Adam Price: Would the leader of Plaid Cymru give way?
Adam Price: Could I add further to those questions—because these are the very specific allegations made by Leighton Andrews—was a formal investigation requested of the First Minister in response to the allegations, or the concerns or issues, that he raised with the First Minister?
