Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, the development of the gender identity service for Wales will make it much easier for transgender people to access services and support locally, without the need to travel further afield. Can you say a little bit more about your commitment to setting up a network of GPs with a particular specialism in gender identity to ensure local access? You've touched on this with Siân...
Nick Ramsay: As an intervention was required, I'm sure that the Secretary of State was there in spirit, Cabinet Secretary—[Interruption.] And he might not have been in those particular meetings, but, of course, the role of Secretary of State is to help liaise and facilitate those sorts of agreements, and, at the end of the day, the fiscal framework was something that you worked very hard on, I know,...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Member take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. I fully understand why you want to bring forward a debate on the tidal lagoon, and, as you know, we share the disappointment of the Assembly and Wales that that hasn't gone ahead. Do you think there would have been a case, though, for putting together a motion that all parties here could have signed up to pretty easily, which would still have had issues with the UK...
Nick Ramsay: I was just about to ask you, First Minister, how you managed to wangle an invitation to this secret ceremony that I didn't get invited to either, but you've taken the wind out of my sails on that one. [Laughter.] Would you say that the question about the—[Interruption.] [Laughter.] And there's always the Alun Davies road going from Brynmawr to Abergavenny, isn't there? [Laughter.] Maybe...
Nick Ramsay: I'm getting to a question. The question about the name of the bridge has been raised many times, but isn't it more important, First Minister, that the tolls on that bridge have been reduced and are going to be abolished later this year? Whatever you think about the name of the bridge—some are for it, some are against it—isn't it a fact that people are now going to be able to enter Wales...
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, you've already given the Minister for culture one namecheck today, or I should say another Member did. I was delighted to welcome the Minister to my constituency for a meeting with Cadw and local residents at Raglan castle last week. The meeting was primarily about the successor to Cadw's resident access scheme, but attention quickly turned to the dangers for local...
Nick Ramsay: I’m pleased to contribute as well to this debate, and was pleased to take part in the Finance Committee's scrutiny of the supplementary budget. I concur with the comments that the Chair of the Finance Committee has made. Thank you for your reference to the work of the Public Accounts Committee. The work in terms of the local health boards and the financing of those is still in progress, so...
Nick Ramsay: I've been mentioned twice, so I've got a right to reply.
Nick Ramsay: Yes, and there are many things in this—. I think I mistakenly said 'substantial changes' earlier—I meant important changes, rather than substantial changes. But, yes, we always abstain on the supplementary budget, because it does represent a change to the previous budget that we did not support, so we don't want to cause confusion where it's not necessary.
Nick Ramsay: Both Caroline Jones and Mike Hedges have made some very valid and important points when it comes to the Swansea tidal lagoon, and Welsh Conservatives have been clear that we hope that there can be a way forward found for that project. I appreciate that this is a setback, but the Welsh Government certainly have our support in finding alternative ways in the future to progress the project. Of...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. Is that a film? [Laughter.]
Nick Ramsay: 4. How does the Cabinet Secretary intend to work with local authorities to pilot new voting methods? OAQ52487
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Gweinidog—or Cabinet Secretary, I should say. My question is nowhere near as exciting or interesting as Russ George's was regarding voting rights abroad. You've said—and forgive me, because I do have this on my phone—. If I can just quote the figures, first of all, for the last set of local council elections in Wales in May 2017, I think the voting turnout was 42 per cent,...
Nick Ramsay: Llywydd, thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the Welsh Government's initial funding of the Circuit of Wales project. The proposed Circuit of Wales was a unique and significant project, which appeared to offer the possibility of regenerating an economically deprived area. As a committee, we agreed that the Welsh Government was right to...
Nick Ramsay: It was never made clear to us, as a committee, why this decision was taken. Was it because of the technical issue of whether or not the project would be on the balance sheet? Or was it something else? Our probing found there to be several more issues at play and there still remains an air of mystery as to how the Welsh Government, which had spent considerable time and money on the...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and can I thank everyone who has contributed in today's debate?
Nick Ramsay: If I can just refer to some of the contributions—firstly, Adam Price. Adam, you identified that there is a poor decision-making process at the heart of the Welsh Government, and that has been evidenced by what we've seen in the Public Accounts Committee looking at the evidence from the Circuit of Wales process and problems. And, yes, you're right: we have to get out of this mess. I think...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, broadband is a key part of our economic infrastructure within Wales. The UK Government has established the local full fibre networks challenge fund in order to bring on the next generation of digital infrastructure and to help local-led projects leverage commercial investment into the full fibre future—the gold standard of reliability in broadband. Will you join me in...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, the Wales Centre for Public Policy has recently published its report on the Welsh tax base, which has raised a number of salient points about the impact even small changes to the tax system can have on taxpayer behaviour, migration and inward investment. With regard to land transaction tax, the report highlights that, although there were only 45 LTT and...
