Andrew RT Davies: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on her Welsh Government’s priorities for the fifth Assembly for rural communities across South Wales Central? OAQ(5)0041(ERA)
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, obviously, the rural development plan offers a level of support to agriculture, whether it be in the Cynon Valley or anywhere else in South Wales Central, or indeed Wales. The Government is committed to bringing a small grants scheme forward in this term. When do you think that small grants scheme might well be available to farmers to access, and what do you have in mind as...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that answer. One of the things that was brought in in the third Assembly by the Presiding Officer, when she was rural affairs Minister, was a change to the planning system for rural dwellings under TAN 6. I appreciate that planning isn’t in your portfolio of responsibilities—
Andrew RT Davies: It is; better still then—the question has more relevance than I thought it was going to have. [Laughter.] Being a regional Member, I have three different councils in South Wales Central that interpret that planning guidance in very different ways, they do. For succession in farm businesses, but also for rural businesses, this provision within the planning system is of vital consideration to...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, obviously, one of the main planks of public health is to get participation in sport levels up in Wales, and for young people to participate in healthy activity, wherever that might be. One of the things that many sports clubs are struggling with, across my region of South Wales Central, is obviously pitch fees and facility fees. I appreciate this is an issue for local government,...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer.
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your response so far to the urgent question. I’ve visited the site on numerous occasions and realise what a complex site it is, with a multi-disciplinary team there who are performing at the top of their game, but in a very competitive environment, with Dubai and Singapore offering very large economies of scale to some operators, but BA, in fairness to them, have...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, there was a report out last week that highlighted the extra cost that your childcare policy could potentially end up costing the Welsh Government at the end of the five-year Assembly—a potential deficit of about £120 million over what you costed for your manifesto. Do you recognise the figures within that report, and if you do recognise the...
Andrew RT Davies: I do take it from your answer that you do accept that there’s potential for this massive overspend, especially if the scheme is, hopefully, a rip-roaring success, in fairness, First Minister, because as I said, all parties recognised going into the election that childcare was a huge issue. Your offer is the offer that will be implemented because you’re in Government, and there is this...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. So, you do take it, then, that those figures aren’t correct and that your figures of £90 million are the costings of that scheme. But, if you look at your wider commitments in the first five months of this Assembly, you have the backing for the black route, which is the most expensive M4 relief option, you have the pupil premium agreed with the...
Andrew RT Davies: Could we have a statement from the planning Minister, leader of the house, in relation to local authorities’ use of section 106s, and in particular their use when considering self-build or small residential developments? Section 106s can be a very useful tool in commercial developments, attracting moneys in for education and for other community facilities, but surely they cannot be a tool...
Andrew RT Davies: Will the Minister make a statement on what the Welsh Government is doing to engage with local authorities in South Wales Central?
Andrew RT Davies: The harrowing images of the Aberfan disaster shed some light on the unimaginable scenes that the community of Aberfan, Wales and the world had to endure 50 years ago. This tragedy, which devastatedly consumed 20 houses and the village school, took the lives of 28 adults and 116 children. The children had just returned to their classes after singing ‘All things bright and beautiful’ at...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, obviously, since 23 June, the sky has not fallen in, economic growth is in good health and, ultimately, manufacturing capacity is expanding. There have been many predictions on both sides of the referendum debate, but what we’re dealing with here is the real world that needs to now take shape, post the negotiations. Have you had discussions with your Cabinet colleagues about the...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, there are challenges across the whole of the United Kingdom in recruiting and retaining teachers in any education system. Sadly, the figures here in Wales for new recruits into the profession are pretty damning, to be honest with you. After five years in the profession, there’s been an increase of 50 per cent in teachers giving up the profession...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, obviously, the Westminster Government announced that amendment to the Wales Bill yesterday, and it is for you to map out exactly how you will use those new powers as a Government when they arrive here. The unions have obviously cast their verdict on that already. But if you look at, actually, people looking to go into training to become a teacher, in this year alone there’s...
Andrew RT Davies: I hope that you will, over the weeks and months ahead now, be able to put some real meat on the bone of exactly what your Government will do over teachers’ pay and conditions with the new responsibilities. I don’t hold the Cabinet Secretary for Education to account for the department at the moment, but Dr Philip Dixon, in fairness, passed a view over the weekend on the capacity within the...
Andrew RT Davies: I’d like to thank the First Minister for his statement this afternoon and, in particular, the updating of Members in relation to the work the Welsh Government has undertaken with its various committees, and the Cabinet sub-committee that is advising the Cabinet. I do find some disappointment, though, in some of the language in this statement today, in particular the downbeat tone. The First...
Andrew RT Davies: I, too, warmly welcome the announcement on the Heathrow expansion. I had the good fortune to be up at Heathrow Airport and was shown the potential for Wales, and have liaised very closely with them over the last two years to offer any assistance that I’ve been able to to make sure that this project does happen. What I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed to hear today is the inability of the...
Andrew RT Davies: Leader of the house, could I ask for three statements, if possible, please? The first is: you and I were on Cowbridge High Street on Saturday, where many businesses highlighted the revaluation exercise that has been undertaken and the huge increases that many of those businesses will be facing in the coming financial year that, basically, put a real question mark over their viability. I heard...
