Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. I was pleased to hear recently that the UK Government had set some very strict targets in terms of decarbonising by the middle of this century. And I think we all agree that drastic action is needed. So, it would be interesting to hear how your Government plans to dovetail with that. Secondly, I recently asked the First Minister, in questions, about some interesting work...
Nick Ramsay: I'm struggling to think of anything that the Minister could possibly add to that in a supplementary question. [Laughter.] If I could just ask—. You mentioned in the middle of your speech there, Minister, the need to build houses for the future. I've had correspondence with one of my constituents—. I don't want to go into the individual planning applications, but the local authority has...
Nick Ramsay: No discussion on invest-to-save is complete without a question from Mike Hedges—I think you've asked a question on it every time it's come up. Minister, I think this is one of those issues that is universally accepted across the Chamber as generally a good idea, and invest-to-save and its successor have a huge role to play in contributing to savings in local government and generating more...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Can the Minister provide an update on the funding allocations being made available across portfolios to progress the decarbonisation of the Welsh economy?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister, I'm pleased to hear that progress. Ministers across departments have been making the right noises on decarbonising. Lesley Griffiths has said, 'just as Wales played a leading role in the first industrial revolution, I believe Wales can provide an example to others of what it means to achieve environmental growth.' And she went on to talk about the importance of tackling...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, the report that I referred to—and you have as well—also highlights that, while the Welsh Government's low-carbon plan contains 100 policies, only around 1 per cent of the Welsh Government's budget can actually be identified as specifically for decarbonisation. Would you agree that, probably, we need to be a bit more ambitious in the future with trying to get that percentage up?...
Nick Ramsay: Jack Sargeant has raised an important question regarding banks, First Minister, and we know that there have been a spate of closures across Wales, which have caused concern for local people. In my own area, the town of Usk lost all its banks in quick succession and then the post office—the only financial service that was left—was also under threat. That's been saved through joint action...
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the Minister for her comments? As you said, there is a fair amount of consensus across this Chamber for the devolution of this tax, and it's a discussion that has gone on for as long as I can remember being in this Chamber. You probably feel the same way. It clearly has risen up the agenda over recent months and years, with the devolution of the other pieces of the tax jigsaw in...
Nick Ramsay: I'm grateful for the chance to clarify that. You've shifted the argument now onto income tax and that's quite a different tax to APD. I think when it comes to a tax such as APD, there are clearly advantages for it to be devolved to Wales. I think in the case of that tax, there is an argument for parity, but I wasn't saying that there should be parity for everything across the board, otherwise...
Nick Ramsay: What's Boris Johnson got to do with this?
Nick Ramsay: We're not talking about income tax. We're talking about air passenger duty.
Nick Ramsay: Minister, I welcomed your response to Mick Antoniw with regard to local authorities across Wales. Monmouthshire County Council was one of the first local authorities to attain the status of paying the living wage to all of its staff. As you said, councils should be doing this, public bodies should be doing this, and also the education sector as well. So, could you tell us a little bit more...
Nick Ramsay: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on progress with the construction of the Grange University Hospital? OAQ54161
Nick Ramsay: A very to-the-point answer there, Minister. Thank you for that. I've had a couple of visits to the hospital, one with you. It's an impressive building, and I'm pleased to hear that it's on track. A couple of questions: since the building was commissioned, the Welsh Government has declared the climate emergency. There is an obligation on all public buildings to keep their carbon footprints...
Nick Ramsay: I'm also pleased to contribute to this afternoon's debate on the first supplementary budget, both as shadow Finance Minister on this side of the Chamber and also as a member of the Finance Committee. It will come as no surprise to the Minister that, as per the Welsh Conservative tradition, we will not be supporting this supplementary budget. On the basis that we did not support the original...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, still on the subject of local food and procurement, in a recent business statement, I raised the issue of Raglan Dairy, a Monmouthshire milk supplier, which has been awarded contracts by the local authority to supply local schools with non-plastic bottled milk. This is great for business, good for the schools and also good for the environment and efforts to reduce plastic pollution....
Nick Ramsay: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on noise mitigation proposals along the A40 in Monmouthshire? OAQ54218
Nick Ramsay: You've answered my supplementary question already, Minister. Clearly, this question is as well worn as that road surface on the A40, which I raise frequently. As you've just said, residents living in the Bryn and neighbouring communities close to the A40 dual carriageway do put up with daily noise pollution because of the ageing concrete road surface of that stretch of road, which needs to be...
Nick Ramsay: I must say, I'm not entirely sure where to start with this statement today. In his previous contribution to the previous statement, the Minister emeritus, Alun Davies—. I'm not sure whether you're going to contribute to this statement, Alun, but you mentioned that you were looking forward to hearing some spending commitments. I'm not sure we really did hear much about any Welsh Government...
Nick Ramsay: Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's policies for improving the trunk road network?
