Andrew RT Davies: 4. What consideration has the Minister given to bringing forward the window for early payments under the basic payment scheme? OQ58092
Andrew RT Davies: From a policy position, the Welsh Government has a policy to plant more trees, and Natural Resources Wales actively acquire land to plant those trees on, which is obviously a Government agency. The Government have just recently acquired Gilestone farm for £4.25 million in Powys. Would you consider a policy position to reinvigorate the council smallholding estate across Wales by making a...
Andrew RT Davies: I draw Members' attention to my declaration in the Members' interests log. Minister, other parts of the United Kingdom have brought forward the window for payment to July. You highlighted in an earlier response to a question that, actually, instead of three Fs, there needs to be five Fs, and one of those Fs was finance. It's critical that cash flow goes through farming businesses, especially...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and could I join you in congratulating the Welsh football team and the great prominence that will give Wales as a country on the international football stage, and wish the team well when the championships arrive? Obviously, hopefully, with planning, you can make sure there are no clashes with Plenary business, especially at the end of November in particular....
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, I'm glad you introduced Transport for Wales, because one of the main criticisms was the ability to get onto trains and the supplying of information for people queuing at Cardiff Central station. That is a pretty basic function of any transport operation and doesn't cost a huge sum of money. The flow of information is critical for passengers understanding why they're stuck in...
Andrew RT Davies: I accept the point on capacity, First Minister, but it was a case that the trains that were planned to run, in many instances, didn't turn up at Cardiff Central station. So, I accept that you can't magic trains out of thin air, but the trains that were supposed to run didn't even turn up on the nights of the Ed Sheeran concerts, which exacerbated the problem when the other concert was held in...
Andrew RT Davies: I've heard the diversity put to me. I turn around and look at the diversity on the backbench of the Conservative benches, and, I have to say, two female Members who occupy the frontbench here are away sick today and they have permission to be away sick. So, when you look at your own benches, where is the diversity there from ethnic minorities? Where are they? Where are they, John?
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. With your permission, as it's the fortieth anniversary of the Falklands conflict, and today is the day that the cessation of hostilities was declared in the Falkland islands, I'd like to put my Conservative group's thanks to the servicemen and women who went out in 1982 and commemorate those who lost their lives—the 255 British men and women who lost their...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, I'm pleased in some respects to hear the reasoning, because I think some of us were a little sceptical that little progress had been made on this very important agenda item, and I hear the reasoning that you're saying is out of due respect to the victims of the Grenfell fire that obviously was five years today. I would hope that, at the earliest opportunity, therefore, the...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that answer, First Minister, but I didn't hear how much of that money had been allocated to date, which I think is important to give people confidence that the money is leaving the Welsh Government, albeit it might be to specific projects. And I fully understand that it does go to more than just cladding, but for many people, the cladding is the issue that they can quite clearly...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your answers so far. What is disappointing from your answers so far is that you're deflecting to say that you can't plan for peaks and troughs. These events are well advertised, well understood, because Cardiff hasn't suddenly become a destination city; the Principality Stadium has been there since 1999, and hosted many major events. There are simple things like the...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, the country today is gridlocked because of the rail strikes, the biggest strikes since the 1980s. Do you support the strikes, First Minister?
Andrew RT Davies: Nothing like winding up the payroll vote to the unions is there when your own are banging their desks? I didn't hear them banging their desks when they were supposed to be standing up for their constituents who were stuck on trains that couldn't provide a service from Transport for Wales. And when you go to Cardiff Central station today, or the rail network in north Wales or mid Wales, there...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, you clearly haven't been keeping up to date with what the general secretary of the RMT has said, where he's said on record that he would not negotiate with a Conservative Government, which does seem odd considering they've got a mandate to govern—[Interruption.] I appreciate the payroll vote are getting quite agitated, and I'm sure that the constituency Labour parties will...
Andrew RT Davies: There are nurses, there are students looking to do their exams, there are businesses who cannot get employees into their place of work, who are suffering because of this strike action. So, we might disagree on various points, First Minister, but do you agree with me on this salient point: that when strike action is called—and I respect the right to call strike action, because that's a...
Andrew RT Davies: Will the Minister take an intervention?
Andrew RT Davies: Some years ago, the then Minister for education wanted to amalgamate Newport university, the University of Glamorgan and the university of Cardiff Metropolitan here in Cardiff. Under the powers that you're putting through in this Bill, would the Minister be able to drive through such change? Today, we enjoy Cardiff Metropolitan as one of the most successful post-1992 universities because, at...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, two weeks ago, the Government announced that it was temporarily suspending its Ukrainian refugee scheme of being the supersponsor for refugees coming to Wales, a scheme that we welcomed when it was officially brought before the Welsh people to show what we could be doing in this part of the UK to help refugees coming out of Ukraine. Yesterday we...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that response, First Minister. I’m in agreement with you that the centres offer that initial support, that initial sense of safety and sanctuary after coming from such turmoil as there is in Ukraine. But what’s really important is to understand how the Government are now identifying the additional resources that will be required to cater for people beyond the initial...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, the point I'm making to you is that you took the plaudits, and rightly took the plaudits, that you identified yourself as a supersponsor Government for refugees coming from the horrors that we are seeing in Ukraine, and we all want to play our part. But you have to identify the resources to marry up to the demand. Now, you have indicated, in your own words, that at the moment...
