Mark Reckless: I congratulate the Chair on her exemplary introduction to the report, making clear what the policy background is to the area before moving too quickly to the areas of controversy and recommendation. Thank you. I would like to initially say that the trade-off between a universal programme and a targeted programme is one that the Assembly has discussed in many other areas—quite recently, in...
Mark Reckless: But some of the benefits are likely to be seen in the early years at school if there are reliable benefits, and I think getting it into the SAIL system will improve the opportunities for researchers very clearly. But Welsh Government has spent £600 million on this in the last 11 years and describes it as a flagship programme. Given that scale of investment, the level of assessment and...
Mark Reckless: I welcome the new contracts and particularly the long overdue new rolling stock for the Valleys lines, but also the reduction in fares for the upper Valleys, which will help many people get more opportunities to commute in and access jobs, particularly in Cardiff. Could I just ask the First Minister to say something about the risks that may come from the contract in terms of the different...
Mark Reckless: I thank the First Minister for his statement. Of course, it would be for the UK Government to decide what, if any, restrictions or customs it wanted to put—or not put—on goods coming into the country, but, First Minister, you made it clear earlier that your Government still supports staying in a customs union with the EU, and staying in the single market. Previously, you have suggested...
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. In wanting to devolve policing to Wales, does the Cabinet Secretary nonetheless support the continuation of the elected police and crime commissioner model? He rightly here commends Gwent Police and Jeff Cuthbert for this particular scheme, but does he recognise that the elected and accountable nature of that role is crucial for that public engagement?
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendment in the name of Paul Davies. I also complement Plaid on their motion, with which we agree. I’ll ask them to understand that our only reason for voting otherwise will be to ensure a vote on our own amendment. The school funding crisis in Wales is severe. NASUWT Wales calculates that there is now a £678 funding gap per pupil between England and Wales. We...
Mark Reckless: Of course I will.
Mark Reckless: Well, the fact is that, overall, there is 20 per cent more spending in Wales and that has been secured under a fiscal construct agreed by the Westminster Government. If you want to compare spending levels in Wales and England, the big difference is—and we heard some of this earlier—that local government does have higher allocations in Wales—I'd question how efficiently that money is...
Mark Reckless: Would the Member give way? Our efforts have been deployed in getting a fiscal agreement where we are currently getting £1.20 of Government spending in Wales compared to £1 in England. Now, I'll ask her: does she think spending more than £600 less per pupil in Wales than in England is right or something she and her Government are proud of?
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way? [Inaudible.]—says he wants a good deal, but he says he cannot conceive, under any circumstances, walking away. How could any business negotiate with another business in his constituency and hope to get a good deal if the other side knows they'll accept what they're given, whatever?
Mark Reckless: Isn't it the reality that there was no discussion of the customs union because the EU was set up as a customs union? It was taken as a given that leaving the EU meant leaving the customs union, and when the single market became part of the campaign, the 'Leave' campaign and particularly Michael Gove were absolutely clear that voting to leave meant leaving the single market, as well as the...
Mark Reckless: 4. Will the Commissioner make a statement on the new investment allocation for the Assembly Member pension scheme? OAQ52338
Mark Reckless: I'm amazed the Cabinet Secretary should absolve the EU of all responsibility for the horse meat scandal. Extraordinarily, he describes Jenny Rathbone as 'absolutely right' when she refers to us having to impose tariffs, but, Cabinet Secretary, isn't it a choice for this country whether we impose tariffs? Given that we've had a free trade area with the EU, we could maintain that unilaterally...
Mark Reckless: Members have recently received notification from the board of a new investment allocation where, instead of one portfolio manager—I think, sensibly—we've moved towards a handful of different portfolio managers. However, I would query the decision in the allocation to invest over a tenth of the pension fund in index-linked gilts, which currently guarantees that, over the term of...
Mark Reckless: Who is it?
Mark Reckless: May I question the assumption that the baseline should automatically be changed to reflect the subsequent decisions of the remuneration board? Because I would question whether that is the way in which other public sector bodies operate. Very often, they'll prepare their budget on one set of assumptions and then things will change and they'll have to absorb those costs and make savings...
Mark Reckless: Diolch. I was listening to Dai Lloyd, who I think speaks with greater practical authority than, perhaps, any of us can, as a doctor. All I really know about the NHS is from my family who work in it. My father was a doctor and my brother is a doctor, and my sister-in-law, my father-in-law, and my mother was a nurse—it goes on and on. I haven't taken that path myself, but I'm proud of what...
Mark Reckless: I was, indeed, coming on to deal with that. The Government identified, I think, two sources of funding: firstly, the, I think, £20 billion gross, £10 billion net we give currently to the EU—a significant proportion of that would be redirected in future to the NHS. But in addition to that, and I think this is a really significant thing politically for a Conservative Government at...
Mark Reckless: —rather than carp and complain about Brexit. Yes.
Mark Reckless: It's been announced that it'll be a £20 billion real-term increase, a 3.4 per cent real-terms increase per year averaged over six years, and that it will come partly from the money we currently pay to the EU, but the rest, and, potentially, even a larger part of it, to come from tax rises. Given how the Barnett formula functions, that spending then comes through to Wales where we would look...
