Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way, Julie. I quite agree with what you've just said about the importance of schools recording data when it comes to bullying, but would you also agree that, in the interests of transparency, it's important that data isn't just recorded but that it's available to parents should they request it so that we do get an accurate picture of bullying, and, more importantly, the...
Nick Ramsay: I didn't say—. Sorry.
Nick Ramsay: I didn't say 'publish' per se, because I could understand that that could raise some issues—
Nick Ramsay: —but that that data be available if it's requested, rather than being kept away, because some schools might not want that sort of data being in the public domain or being available to parents, for obvious reasons.
Nick Ramsay: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policies for supporting the rural economy? OAQ54840
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policy on waste incineration?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Last Saturday, I'm sure you were aware, was Small Business Saturday. I, like many other Assembly Members, was out campaigning for local businesses. I visited Neil James, a small local butcher in rural Monmouthshire, whose family has been supporting Welsh farmers and supplying local produce since the 1950s. The business is frequently nominated for the...
Nick Ramsay: I concur with the points made by Jenny Rathbone. I think that, in the area of zero-carbon homes, Wales really can make a lead in this area if we want to. Minister, the innovative housing fund has enabled Monmouthshire Housing Association to carry on their excellent work, developing two innovative housing sites in Chepstow, working in partnership with the Welsh School of Architecture, and this...
Nick Ramsay: Out of practice. Trefnydd, it wouldn't be the business statement without me bringing some of my well-trodden pet causes to your attention, as I've done before, the first of those being the ongoing and pressing case for a Chepstow bypass. Could we have an update from the Minister for transport on any discussions that may have happened over recent months with the UK Government to develop this...
Nick Ramsay: I'm pleased to be speaking in this important debate today, a debate, of course, about the budget, but also about the future of the people of Wales. Let us be quite clear about the context of this budget: yes, the Welsh Government has found itself developing this budget during an exceptionally short time frame, with issues surrounding the recent general election, and we recognise the...
Nick Ramsay: I will now, Mike. On 31 December 2019, the airport announced a pre-tax loss of £18.5 million in the financial year up to 31 March 2019. I've previously said that I don't think that the airport should be given what could effectively amount to a blank cheque, so I would be looking for assurances that that isn't going to happen. I give way to Mike Hedges.
Nick Ramsay: Well, of course I'm not the Minister. I mean, yes, there are gaps in west Wales, but you might want to raise that yourself with the Minister in your own comments. But okay, I take the point—all aspects, all parts of Wales need to be considered equally, and I think the point you're making is that if you set out a preference for one area, such as north Wales, then you automatically lose out...
Nick Ramsay: Yes, I give way to the former First Minister.
Nick Ramsay: Well, there's a question. Thank you for the question. Gosh; in at the deep end today, isn't it? I don't know that mayor specifically, but I would question what he paid for the airport to start with, did he pay over the odds for it and whether he has a strategy for that airport. I've not been questioning during this, the ownership of the airport, but I am questioning the strategy behind the...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for taking an intervention, Minister. On that issue of the future generations commissioner, I'm glad to hear that you've said that she has been involved throughout, but there was a slightly wider point than that, and that is, of course, a budget having a strategy devised with the future generations commissioner that underpins it and looks down the line two, three, four, five years. I...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, yesterday saw a debate brought to this Chamber on the draft budget. Of course, key to placing the Welsh economy on a better footing is to better support Wales's small businesses. Can you tell us how this draft budget proposes to help the 95 per cent of Welsh businesses that are small and micro, employing, in many cases, under nine people each?
Nick Ramsay: Minister, you are right to say that there are a number of businesses that pay no rates at all. I visited Chepstow high street recently and on one street there, there are a number of businesses that aren't paying rates. Unfortunately, in the same street, there are then businesses that are of a very similar size but may fall into a different zone that find themselves clobbered with really high...
Nick Ramsay: I would say 'A good Conservative position there: reform not for the sake of reform', but I take it in the spirit that you meant it. I'm pleased that that work is going on. As I said, I only recently visited Chepstow high street, where it seemed to me grossly unfair that, on one street, because of the way business rates work and because of the zoning system, you can have businesses opposite or...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Member take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Will you take an intervention?
