Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and can I concur with the comments made by the Cabinet Secretary at the end of his contribution there—that this has become an annual debate? I think that all Members agree that it is one that, every year, Members wish to take part in to show our support for our armed forces and our veterans. Can I thank everyone who has contributed to today’s debate? It’s...
Nick Ramsay: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on the extension of free childcare? OAQ(5)0067(CC)
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Whilst we welcome your proposals to extend provision, I wonder what consideration you’ve given to enabling parents to use their free hours more flexibly. In most cases, the current provision of 10 free hours weekly must be spread, as you know, over five days, so that’s around two hours a day. Who can travel to and from work and get any work done within two...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for giving way, Lynne. I totally agree with you on that: a strategy is on paper. The whole point of dementia-friendly communities is that they rely very closely on the local community coming together and providing those opportunities for people in that area suffering from dementia, so this has to be led from the ground up.
Nick Ramsay: Minister, will you take an intervention? Thank you for taking the intervention. Monmouthshire County Council has set up a number of dementia-friendly communities, which have worked because the views of older people have been taken into account at the very outset so that, when they’re being supported, that support is tailored to what they need and what they say they need. So, I welcome your...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for giving way, Mark Reckless. Would you agree with me that part of the problem we’re dealing with with the Severn bridge is that, of course, it’s not one crossing, it’s two crossings. The maintenance costs for the old crossing are the bulk of the maintenance costs, and they’re likely to increase in the future as that structure ages. So, we need to guard against a solution...
Nick Ramsay: 5. Will the First Minister provide an update on his discussions with local authorities regarding business rate revaluation? OAQ(5)0277(FM)
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, First Minister. As you know, the impending business rate revaluation continues to be a source of considerable concern for businesses, in some parts of Wales—I accept, not all, but certainly in my area of Wales. The Monmouth chamber of commerce met yesterday to discuss the hike in rates that many of the members are facing, and only this morning, I’ve received an e-mail from a...
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, as Huw Irranca-Davies highlighted in his comments to you earlier, the last few days of heavy rain have seen flooding across the country. They’ve also seen the usual and predictable seasonal flooding of the A4042 at Llanellen bridge in my constituency. This is a major trunk route. The annual flooding causes much inconvenience to commuters and local residents, and it...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank the Members who’ve taken part in this debate this afternoon? It’s a very timely debate given the consequences of next April’s rates revaluation are now becoming clear—and I would say only recently becoming clear, certainly to the businesses out there that are going to be faced with increases. As Russ George said in opening, the...
Nick Ramsay: 7. How does the First Minister plan to utilise additional funding for Wales resulting from the Autumn Statement? OAQ(5)0296(FM)
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. First Minister, the autumn statement will deliver over £400 million over the next five years for infrastructure—good news. Will you make sure that all areas of Wales benefit from this extra funding, including rural areas like Monmouthshire, my constituency, which receives one of the lowest local government settlements but which would really benefit from additional investment in...
Nick Ramsay: Can I welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s statement today? Landfill tax might not be the talk of pubs and clubs across Wales, but it is an important tax and can be an important tool for Welsh Government to effect environmental policy in Wales. I’m going to be part of the Finance Committee scrutiny into the landfill tax, so I will keep my comments and questions brief today, Cabinet Secretary,...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to contribute to this debate and to move the Welsh Conservatives’ amendments in Paul Davies’s name. As our amendments highlight, Wales has the worst high-street vacancy rate in the UK, and footfall is down by 1.4 per cent, compared with October 2015. Okay, one of many statistics, but an important statistic nonetheless. I think we are all very well...
Nick Ramsay: I’m very grateful to you for giving way on that. I did actually say in my contribution that, on average, there is a reduction in rates across Wales. So, I did acknowledge that. My point was that, for those businesses in those parts of Wales that have been affected, they have been particularly badly affected. I think it would be a complacent approach not to recognise that, and to put in...
Nick Ramsay: I’m grateful to you for giving way. I understand what you’re saying about the problem of additional complexity, and there is great virtue in a simple system. But, nonetheless, people out there in businesses in my constituency and in some others are deeply, deeply worried about this, so they need reassurance. I understand there’s going to be a system put in place for rate relief, but...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’ve agreed to give a minute of my time to Mark Isherwood. There is a brief opening presentation with a difference at the start of this short debate. So, can I firstly ask you all to close your eyes for a minute or so?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you; you can open your eyes now. The sounds you’ve just heard are sounds that blind and partially sighted people hear on a daily basis. Without sight, as you can imagine, these noises can be very disconcerting. I recently undertook a blindfolded walk with Monmouth Visually Impaired Club, and my experiences were nothing short of profound. The walk from the Monnow bridge to the top of...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, leader of the house, I should say, for giving way on that. Just for the record, I did identify one area where the Welsh health service was ahead of that across the border in England, but there are also other areas where we are falling behind a little bit, and we need to make sure that we are ahead across the board. I’m sure you’ll agree.
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, can I ask for two statements? First of all, earlier, in First Minister’s questions, Gareth Bennet asked the First Minister for an update on the south Wales metro. Could I reiterate those calls for an update on that, particularly with regard to the next phase? As you know from my concerns during the last Assembly, the town of Monmouth has been on some metro maps and off...
