Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: May I ask, given the terms of the motion, as well as a debate, is he seeking a vote on this matter?
Mark Reckless: First Minister, when I took an Assembly committee to Dublin and met the Taoiseach, I learnt how Ireland benefits by £2 billion because of privileged access to our beef and dairy markets in the customs union, with a quarter of our beef coming from Ireland. Isn't it the case that outside a customs union it would be our choice either to trade freely and buy beef more cheaply elsewhere, or,...
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. I agree with the finance Secretary that we certainly need to drill down in greater detail on this vacant land tax. He says a vacant land tax would apply to land that has previously been identified as suitable for development. Is the implication of that that it's land that's identified in the LDP, in which case is the 15, 20-year outlook of that really appropriate to have a...
Mark Reckless: Llywydd, may I apologise for the discourtesy of having missed a question in the previous session? I'm not sure whether the Cabinet Secretary has been with David Melding and Jane Hutt to read these reports, but he may also be able to tell us whether the report about leaks or otherwise on the reshuffle will be published, given his new commitment to openness and transparency in public life. Can...
Mark Reckless: 1. Will the First Minister confirm at what cost the Welsh Government will look at alternatives to the current proposed plans for the M4 relief road? OAQ51826
Mark Reckless: The First Minister told us in 2015 that the project would cost, and I quote, 'nowhere near £1 billion.' I suppose, in one sense, that's correct because the cost is now put at around £1.4 billion. If the Assembly does support the black route in the vote that we're now going to have, how can we trust the Welsh Government to deliver it at acceptable cost when you've shown no ability so far...
Mark Reckless: Diolch. Cabinet Secretary, I'm especially interested in the Seren network to support able and talented learners into university, as you may be aware from my volume of written questions on the—[Interruption.] Thank you. First, I'd like to ask if you've made any assessment of the summer camps run by some leading universities, including their cost-effectiveness. For example, I note the Yale...
Mark Reckless: Leader of the house, I've been informed that Caerphilly County Borough Council is holding up the installation of ultrafast broadband by charging extortionate planning fees and ground rental for the ultrafast boxes. This endangers ultrafast provision, not just in Caerphilly, including Islwyn, but in surrounding areas as well. Would you ensure that Caerphilly stops endangering provision of...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: Does the Member accept that being a member of the EU customs union also requires being a member of the EU and of its legal structures, and ignoring the referendum result and how Wales voted?
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: Is he aware that, on average, every time a woman buys a bra, she has to pay a tax of £1 to the European Union, even though we don't produce any bras in this country?
Mark Reckless: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on progress made in promoting Welsh trade with the United States of America? OAQ51877
Mark Reckless: The First Minister went to the United States promoting a free trade deal between the UK and the United States. He came back saying we have to leave it to the EU. Isn't the truth that his policy of a new customs union with the EU is the worst of all worlds, in that we would have no independent trade policy yet we would have no say and no vote over the EU's trade policy? As with Turkey, the EU...
Mark Reckless: I'm grateful to Estyn for their substantive annual report. Reading through it, I wasn't always clear whether Estyn is a mechanism through which Welsh Government seeks to secure its policy objectives, or whether it's more of a law unto itself, its degree of autonomy and independence, and the extent to which it may be judging the implications of its own assessment criteria. So, for instance,...
Mark Reckless: If I may just take an example—it's an area where I think my view and perhaps the view of many, at least in the Conservative group, may be different from yours, Cabinet Secretary, and from the Labour Government, but it's about accountability for schools and transparency over how they are doing. We have Estyn's own assessment and the rating it gives. We then have this red, amber and green,...
Mark Reckless: Will the Cabinet Secretary give way?
Mark Reckless: Rather than that able principle, where I don't think we'll reach agreement, what is the point of this middle way where Estyn tells you what the results are if the inspection was after 2014 but not before, and how does that help anyone if parents are comparing schools on less than accurate or up-to-date data?
Mark Reckless: 9. Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm whether the debate and vote on the M4 relief road that was announced in a letter to Assembly Members will be binding or advisory? OAQ51855
