Mark Reckless: Thank you. My party accepted the St David’s Day agreement and said we would work with that, I think largely because we wanted to focus on delivering better public services in Wales, rather than continued constitutional navel-gazing. We do not accept the change to devolve income tax powers without a referendum, which is a departure from that St David’s Day agreement, but we note the...
Mark Reckless: 7. Will the Welsh Government continue to prioritise childcare provision in nurseries attached to schools over private nurseries? OAQ(5)0036(CC)
Mark Reckless: The provision in Wales is very centred on schools, compared to a more mixed economy across the border. Has the Minister considered that many parents might welcome more of a choice between school-based nurseries and independent nurseries and, for example, might like the opportunity, rather than five days of two-and-a-half hours a day, to have a smaller number of fuller days in the week?
Mark Reckless: I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary, Professor Diamond and his team for the report and her statement. There are elements of the report that my party welcomes—the sensible postgraduate arrangements, making them equivalent to undergraduates, support for part-timers and support for carers. One small part we had in our manifesto was the suggestion of pilot schemes for Welsh students to...
Mark Reckless: 3. To what extent does the Welsh Government make payments to schools in the private sector? OAQ(5)0033(EDU)
Mark Reckless: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her answer. Could she confirm, which I’ve seen from an FOI request from one of her constituents, whether the Welsh Government continues to make a payment of £90,000 a year to the private, fee-paying London Welsh School?
Mark Reckless: On a point of order—
Mark Reckless: On a point of order—
Mark Reckless: I was privileged to lead a delegation for the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, including both Jayne and Simon, to the Ceredigion coast late last week. One issue we learnt from marine organisations there is that it was the marine strategic framework directive where there was, it was suggested, a potential breach and consequent, at least in theory, enforcement action. We...
Mark Reckless: I congratulate Simon Thomas on getting this debate and on proposing his motion without, I believe, mentioning badgers, which I think we all knew were the substance of the debate to come. I find it unusual speaking at the moment because I don’t have a strong view for or against badger culling as a potential solution or at least way to improve, mitigate, the situation of bovine TB. I did vote...
Mark Reckless: 3. Does the First Minister expect all current CAP payments made in Wales to be added permanently and unconditionally to the HM Treasury block grant to the Welsh Government? OAQ(5)0175(FM)
Mark Reckless: Of course, I applaud and share the First Minister’s ambition in this field. Many farmers have said to me that they would like to see Welsh Government spending on agriculture and rural development ring-fenced. Is that a commitment the First Minister would consider giving, perhaps in the context of UK Government guarantees of future funding and policy autonomy for Wales?
Mark Reckless: With respect to the ONS data centre and the link with economics, I worked as an economist previously and hugely benefited from relations with ONS statisticians. There was a time when the ONS emphasised selling data and using it to bring in revenue to Government, but now has a policy of open data. Does the First Minister agree that the Welsh Government should support that in its own approach,...
Mark Reckless: 8. When does the Minister expect tolling arrangements on the Severn Bridges to revert to the public sector? OAQ(5)0040(EI)
Mark Reckless: They are reverting from the private sector to the public sector. My own understanding was the fourth quarter, and I was hoping to have an update on that—the fourth quarter of next year. The Treasury has said that, despite the bridge then being paid for, it plans to continue to have a toll, partly, it says, to repay a debt that it purports to be owed on the bridge. Can the Cabinet Secretary...
Mark Reckless: Surely if the Cabinet Secretary hasn’t met the Secretary of State for DEFRA or other UK Ministers sufficiently for the Member’s liking, is that not a matter that has two sides to it, and should there not be some responsibility taken by Ministers in London for not reaching out sufficiently to Welsh Ministers?
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: I’m grateful. I was a little surprised by reference to continuous declines and then citing Abergavenny and saying it was down 39 per cent. I’ve found Abergavenny has been thriving as a town and there’s much positive commercial there, and then in Newport, Friar’s Walk and the development there, I think, has led to more people coming back into the town centre. I just wonder if the...
Mark Reckless: For the record, I had seen scope for the HS2 to support the Rochester and Stroud economy at the time that it was promised to have a cross-London link to take direct trains from Ebbsfleet to Manchester and Birmingham. That was then taken out of the project, and I withdrew my support and agreed with my colleague that it would not benefit the Welsh economy.
Mark Reckless: 5. What will be the cost of giving means tested grants to newly eligible students from households earning between £50,020 and £81,000? OAQ(5)0219(FM)
