Adam Price: It seems to me, Llywydd, a bit like the tax cut that we were offered the other day. This is a not-for-profit operator in name only. One of the other commitments in the programme is to create a Wales development bank, which was born out of dissatisfaction with the way in which Finance Wales was being run. We now know that Finance Wales is bidding to deliver the new Wales development bank. One...
Adam Price: I would gently say to the Cabinet Secretary that it would be helpful if he answered the questions that were actually put to him and not simply read out his notes. I take it from his answer that he wasn’t aware that Finance Wales is breaking the spirit of the recommendations of his own Government’s access to finance review by continually bidding to run funds outside of Wales. He will know...
Adam Price: 7. What recent discussions has the Minister had with representatives of the National Botanic Garden of Wales? OAQ(5)0046(EI)
Adam Price: May I, for once, share some positive news with the Cabinet Secretary? The number of visitors over the past year is up by 5 per cent, the number of family visits is up by a third, the sale of memberships is up by 41 per cent, and there has been a surplus for the garden over the past two financial years. May I ask the Cabinet Secretary to add to this positive news by confirming the long-term...
Adam Price: I obviously welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s statement, but I have to take issue with him that the course of this period from 2000 to 2014 has been somehow an unalloyed economic success for those of us who live in west Wales and the Valleys. He was very selective in the figures that he quoted. Because we’re talking about a European programme, if we look at where west Wales and the Valleys...
Adam Price: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement this afternoon, and also for the telephone conversation that we had early on Friday morning and her willingness to visit the area on Saturday afternoon. She mentioned that she was content with the speed of the response, but may I ask for a little more information about the timetable? When exactly was NRW informed by the company of the reduction...
Adam Price: 14. What assessment has the Minister made of the different rights afforded to tenants of a local authority and tenants of a registered social landlord? OAQ(5)0048(CC)
Adam Price: Well, may I ask the Minister to review this again because we’ve seen, in the merger of Tai Cantref and Wales & West Housing, a process that was entirely deficient, in my view, for a number of reasons, but, in this context, because of a total lack of consultation with tenants? He made reference earlier to the process of stock transfer. A ballot is held in terms of stock transfers, but, in...
Adam Price: What is the Welsh Government’s response to reports that British Airways is looking to cut 66 jobs at its maintenance facility based at Cardiff Airport? EAQ(5)0054(EI)[W]
Adam Price: Obviously, as the Minister has said, this is clearly very unwelcome news in deeply uncertain economic times, and will be of great concern to the employees affected and their families. And, of course, it’s a serious blow to the aerospace sector, which is a major source of high-skilled and highly paid jobs throughout Wales, but, obviously, particularly in this enterprise zone in which the...
Adam Price: 10. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's support for the National Botanic Garden? OAQ(5)0218(FM)
Adam Price: The garden has submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery fund to create a regency garden on the site. It appears that that bid has been successful and has attracted the possibility of private contributions on top of that, but this, according to the fund, is conditional on confirmation from the Welsh Government of Government support for the garden. As we are talking about an investment of...
Adam Price: First of all, I would like to thank the finance Secretary for his statement today and for the phone call that I received from him earlier too, but most of all, for the process of discussion that we went through over a period of months over the summer. Of course, the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government is testament to those mature discussions that we could use as a foundation for...
Adam Price: Thank you, madam Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for today’s statement and indeed for the commitment to create the infrastructure commission, originally set out in the compact, and also for the willingness that he has just set out in his statement for the role, the remit, the status and the focus of the infrastructure commission to evolve, and for it...
Adam Price: A number of businesses, particularly in rural areas, have been in touch with Plaid Cymru Members to discuss the impact of the increase that they’re currently facing—for example, a pub is facing an increase of 200 per cent. We are talking about thousands here. We have an example of the Vale Country Club, which arranges wedding in Ruthin, and their rateable value is going to increase from...
Adam Price: My father was there in Orgreave on the morning of 18 June 1984 and like many others he looked on in incredulity as a sea of 8,000 police officers opened up—many of them, of course, in full riot gear with long shields suddenly opening up to allow a cavalry charge through to chase down miners, like my father, just dressed in T-shirt and jeans. It was only luck, actually, that he was not...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the National Schools Categorisation System? OAQ(5)0044(EDU)
Adam Price: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her answer. We have exchanged correspondence on this issue over the summer, therefore she’ll be aware that I have met with a headmaster in a local primary school who had conveyed concerns to me about the possibility for schools to present data in a misleading way in order to improve their categorisation. Now, in her response to me, the Minister said that...
Adam Price: Diolch, Lywydd. I think, Cabinet Secretary, we’ve seen again overnight, haven’t we, the way in which political consequences flow from an economic agenda that has failed to deliver change for the majority of people. So, would he agree that now is the time really for bold, big ideas that have the potential to deliver transformational change for our country and our people? In this spirit, I...
Adam Price: On this theme of big ideas, the Bevan Foundation yesterday launched a powerful report that made the case for designating the whole of the south Wales Valleys as an enterprise zone. Is there an opportunity to go even further here and actually seek permission from the UK Government for the whole of Wales to be made an enterprise zone, and for us to have the corporation tax powers that are being...
