Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Unlike David Rowlands, I cannot promise not to mention the Circuit of Wales. On Friday, in a written statement to this Assembly in relation to the publication of the due diligence conducted on that project, Cabinet Secretary, you said that, In relation to the fit and proper person test report, we have been unable to publish either in full or in summary because Michael Carrick...
Adam Price: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that report. The company in the letter that he referred to contests what he has just said, and I’m sure they will respond in due course. They maintain that a redacted copy of the report was only made available to them at 5.16 p.m. on Friday evening after the statement was made to the Assembly. While we’re on the subject of the publication of information...
Adam Price: On 7 July, Cabinet Secretary, you told me in a written reply that you did not expect that civil servants were involved in the leaking of this information, and I believe that has now been confirmed by the Permanent Secretary. On 14 August, you told me that you were satisfied that special advisers were not responsible for the leaking of this information. That doesn’t leave many people left in...
Adam Price: Answer the question that I asked you.
Adam Price: I’m very pleased to support the recommendations of the committee. It’s an opportunity, of course, for us to give attention to part of our public transport infrastructure that, as Russell George said, has, unfortunately, too long and too consistently been a cinderella sector in terms of public investment and in terms of the focus of public policy. I’m speaking now as somebody who was...
Adam Price: Diolch. It’s yet another opportunity for us to discuss the reform of business rates. I mean, I’m not the only one, I’m sure, in this Chamber, to be hit by a tsunami of déjà vu. It seems a perennial in this place that we are constantly returning to this subject, and for good reason, really. This is an anachronistic discredited tax. It’s a bit like the window tax, which was repealed...
Adam Price: Will the Cabinet Secretary outline what new policies the Welsh Government plans to bring forward to support medium-sized businesses?
Adam Price: 3. Has the Welsh Government specified the provision of electric trains between Cardiff and Swansea in its invitation to tender for the Wales and Borders franchise? (OAQ51220)
Adam Price: The original business case in 2012 that was the basis for the electrification decision included four electric trains per hour between Swansea and Cardiff, including local services, as I understand. Now, had the Welsh Government inserted a requirement for electric local services in the detailed franchise specification, as per this original business case, the Department for Transport would have...
Adam Price: Over the past few days, the Iris Prize film festival has been staged here in Cardiff. It represents the largest gay film prize in the world, and the largest short film prize awarded anywhere. So, may I ask the First Minister to congratulate those people who arranged that event and the volunteers for their success? I declare an interest because I was there for most of the festival and it is...
Adam Price: There’s not much to say in opposition to this motion, but I just ask for a few more details from the leader of the house to understand the process that led to this decision to agree the memorandum. She mentioned the main incentive, which as I understand it is the concern that Wales will be seen as a less favourable place for investment in this context. Could she tell us a little bit more...
Adam Price: One of the most striking things in the report is this fact: namely, that 38 per cent of the total jobs growth in Wales over the past 10 years can be attributed to the self-employed. Over the same period, there’s been no net increase in the inward investment sector. And again, and I quote from the report: ‘the language of economic policy-making is massively skewed toward the importance of...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Welsh Government scrap the public sector pay cap? (OAQ51243)
Adam Price: Well, the Scottish Government, last month, in its programme for government, has committed to scrapping the pay cap for NHS staff, for teachers, for civil servants and other hard-pressed public sector workers. Responding to this, the interim leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Alex Rowley, said: This SNP u-turn is long overdue, and it is welcome to see that’ finance secretary Derek...
Adam Price: I’m grateful to the Chair of the committee upon which I sit. I’ve written to him and pointed out that you’ve misrepresented me on a whole series of occasions. You’ve just read out the quote—what did it say? Explore: exactly what the Cabinet Secretary said, so stop making things up by saying that we support it. We’re saying we have open minds. Let’s look at the merits and...
Adam Price: If that is the case—and I agree with you, First Minister, because of the historic low interest rates that we're still facing, notwithstanding the recent decision to have a slight increase—why aren't we borrowing at the full amount available to us? I mean, we are not actually even drawing down over the next three financial years the full £425 million that we could borrow. We're £50...
Adam Price: Could I also welcome the new Minister to the post? Also, could I congratulate her for saying that she has an open mind? That has characterised her and her attitude towards politics generally, the fact that she does reach out to people. And we greatly need that, I think, in discussing where we go from here with this White Paper because the debate about the annual report, of course, naturally,...
Adam Price: I was talking about the main Welsh language organisations that have convened their opposition to the idea of abolishing the Welsh Language Commissioner.
Adam Price: I was very pleased to be able to speak at a Seren network event in Llanelli on Friday. I think all of us would want to encourage as many Welsh students as possible to apply for these two world-leading education institutions, but also to others in the same category as well—to Trinity College Dublin, to the Sorbonne, to Heidelberg, to Tübingen, and further afield to Princeton, Stanford and...
Adam Price: I would have to declare an interest. But, look, the Diamond review made a commitment that we would actually open access to right across Europe and also have a pilot beyond Europe itself—for North American and other leading institutions. Can the Cabinet Secretary update us on where the Welsh Government are with that proposal?
