Adam Price: I’m very pleased to hear that. Of course, I believe that the Counsel General will be aware of a recent case of the Government revealing personal data, namely my own personal data, with regard to correspondence, not just mistakenly but misleadingly. Could he say whether he has provided advice in that particular case as to whether or not the Government has breached data protection rules, and...
Adam Price: Thank you very much, Llywydd. It’s my pleasure to rise to move the motion in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth, which is to do with the M4 relief road, a new motorway, in truth—that’s what it is, of course. It’s true to say that it is one of the most controversial infrastructure projects perhaps that we’ve been discussing, not only recently but for some decades. There is a great range of...
Adam Price: And, when we think of it in those terms, when we think of the possibility we're already looking at way over £1.5 billion when you add in these different elements, then I think it is only right and proper, of course, that this Parliament will get the right to decide. Because there's a huge opportunity cost in there: £1.5 billion, £1.7 billion, £1.8 billion. You can have a new integrated...
Adam Price: I was just wondering, before he concludes his remarks, could he just address the central issue of the motion, which is the question as to whether there will be a substantive vote in this Assembly after the conclusion of the public inquiry.
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I was going to say halfway through the debate that I felt it was Parliament being at its best because there was a range of views on this issue, but we were coalescing and uniting, actually, around the core principle that, ultimately, Parliament must decide. I was hoping that the Cabinet Secretary, in his remarks at the end, would give us some clarity on...
Adam Price: It's over a year since you published the White Paper making the case for Wales to remain within the single market and the customs union. You haven't been able to persuade Theresa May of the merits of that policy, and perhaps you can be forgiven for that, but why haven't you been able to convince Jeremy Corbyn?
Adam Price: Some regional Governments, such as Flanders, for example, as Rhun ap Iorwerth pointed out earlier, do have a veto over the final terms of the Brexit agreement that Wales doesn’t currently have. Of course, as the First Minister will be aware, there is a very close historic link between Wales and Flanders. Would the First Minister consider leading a delegation to Flanders to appeal to them,...
Adam Price: Just a few questions on the work plan in terms of local taxation. Can the Cabinet Secretary tell us whether the work that he’s talking about in terms of renewing council tax is on the radical scale in terms of making the taxation burden fairer, for example, on the kind of lines that my party have proposed in the past, as well as Professor Gerry Holtham? When is that work to be published,...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. According to the 'Wales procurement policy statement', public procurement, when used effectively, is 'a strategic tool to deliver economic benefit to the people of Wales.' It’s no surprise, therefore, that the Government, as you note in your economic strategy ‘Prosperity for All’, published just recently, is endeavouring to increase the level of Welsh purchasing in...
Adam Price: Well, I can tell the Cabinet Secretary that’s not the case and it’s going down. In 2015-16, in that financial year, 41 per cent of health service procurement was made in Wales, according to your statistics, but, by the following year, the percentage had fallen to 39 per cent. In response to an inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee recently, the Welsh Government stated that you were...
Adam Price: Well, I would suggest that it would be at least beneficial to have a target so that the level increases, rather than decreases, as is happening at the moment. Let's turn to another question that Siân Gwenllian alluded to, namely the level of regional investment. In 'Prosperity for All', the Government outlines its aspiration to ensure that every part of Wales benefits from investment and...
Adam Price: Will you give way?
Adam Price: I just wonder if you can clarify one point about 'the customs union' versus 'a customs union'. Can we both agree there can only be one customs union, by definition, because it involves a single geographic entity with a common external tariff? So there could only be one customs union in the EU.
Adam Price: You've just described a free trade agreement.
Adam Price: During your meetings with representatives of the Government of Quebec last week, did you have an opportunity to discuss the veto that they have in Quebec over international trade deals? You, in your comments to date, have said that you want Wales to have an influence, but not the kind of veto that territories of Canada, for example, and, truth be told, European regions such as Flanders and...
Adam Price: I can also confirm that my party will follow our consistent pattern in terms of this budget and will abstain on this vote as part of the agreement that we have.
Adam Price: There are things to be welcomed, of course—specifically, as the Cabinet Secretary mentioned, the £30 million in additional funding for Welsh-medium education as part of the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government. By its very nature, a supplementary budget, as the Cabinet Secretary said, tends to be technical and administrative. Despite that, I would echo the main thrust of the...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. The Wales and borders rail franchise has proven a unique exercise in many ways—unique in the form of the bidding process, but also, sadly, in that 50 per cent of the bidders have now had to pull out. It's also unique for any major rail procurement exercise in the UK in that the invitation to tender has not been made public. This continues to be the case despite the fact...
Adam Price: Well, maybe I can help the Cabinet Secretary out a little here, because some of the answers have been provided for us now through the strategic environmental assessment on the south Wales metro that Transport for Wales have had to produce, and publish, under European regulations, albeit slightly under the radar. This document, and the accompanying maps, confirm that the Ebbw Vale...
Adam Price: Cabinet Secretary, I'm quoting from your own Transport for Wales authority's maps. Under 'red', it says, 'Discontinued from future consideration at present'. I'm just quoting at you your own transport authority's statement on these subjects. It is right, of course, that some of the money that you've had is going to be spent on the Valleys lines. According to the same document, there is a...
