Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Prif Weinidog, for that answer. First Minister, the opening of the new Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran is imminent; I believe it's this month. It's going to be a great new facility. I know many Assembly Members—Senedd Members we are now—have had a chance to look around that facility during its construction period. But it's also vitally important that it's well staffed,...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Trefnydd, the Welsh Government has announced that up to 15 people will be able to take part in indoor organised events, including sport, from next Monday. I've received a number of e-mails from parents who are concerned that this may prohibit their children from accessing gymnastics clubs, as the clubs won't be able to operate with such a low number and could end up going out...
Nick Ramsay: 3. What discussions is the Minister having with officials, including those in Public Health Wales, about progress towards a vaccine for COVID-19? OQ55789
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, health Minister. A number of newspapers reported recently that it might be just a matter of weeks before NHS staff might start receiving a vaccine. The development of a vaccine is clearly key to dealing with the pandemic over the medium and the longer term, as you've made clear before. There's clearly going to be enormous demand for this vaccine once it's available. Has the Welsh...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, I've been in contact with ColegauCymru, who are very concerned about the support that further education learners and the sector are getting. Higher education has been given another £10 million for mental health services and while some of that is for students who've had to lock down in their student housing, there is some, I believe, for suicide awareness and dealing with mental...
Nick Ramsay: 6. Will the Counsel General outline the remit of the trade policy advisory group announced in his written statement of 3 November 2020? OQ55839
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for that answer, Counsel General. For a number of years, the Scottish Government have had a trade board, which was one of the commitments in their trade and investment strategy, with the aim of identifying and supporting exports to new markets, bringing together a range of expertise to advise the Scottish Government. It's clear that the Scottish Government has made great strides in...
Nick Ramsay: I'm grateful to contribute briefly to this today. I'm not a member of the committee, but I, like many Senedd Members, received many queries over that two-week firebreak, certainly during the first week of it, regarding the ban on supermarkets selling non-essential goods, so I speak from that point of view. I can certainly say, in response to Huw Irranca-Davies, that over that period I...
Nick Ramsay: Wyndham Davies, Arthur Jenkins, Richard Jones, David Lumley, Edward Meredith, Albert Metcalfe, Thomas Shelton and William Davies—the names of the fallen from the second world war that were read out at the remembrance service that I attended in Raglan this morning. And in towns and villages across the country, countless more names were being read out at the same time—names of servicemen...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, I wonder if I could ask you about what can be learned from the Scottish example. EU funds have in the past been used to invest in infrastructure, as we know, and as Dave Rees has just alluded to. Do you share my view that our National Infrastructure Commission for Wales could not only learn some valuable lessons from the experiences in Scotland, where their commission is...
Nick Ramsay: Trefnydd, I wonder if we could have an update from the health Minister on critical care provision, specifically in south-east Wales. Today saw the well-publicised and long-awaited opening of the new Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran. Hopefully, this will transform critical and specialist care in south-east Wales. It's true to say it's a fantastic new building, new facility, but there are...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon and for welcoming the Finance Committee's report regarding the mutual investment model. I did listen to your opening comments, but I think even you would have to admit that what you called 'Westminster-imposed austerity' has certainly come to an end—well, certainly recently this year, when you look at the massive amounts of additional...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Gweinidog, for your statement. The second supplementary budget allocates over £1.5 billion and sets out £1 billion of unallocated funding, as we saw on the Finance Committee. We do, of course, welcome—I know you've recognised—additional funding from the UK Government. Given your comments in Plenary on 6 October, that there did remain uncertainty over that level of funding, I...
Nick Ramsay: I think that's a great question from Joyce Watson and I think the idea of a national forest is a really good one that is long overdue, and it's good to be developing carbon sinks like a forest. Can I ask you about a slightly different angle of biodiversity and that relating to water quality and our waterways? As the Senedd champion for the freshwater pearl mussel, I'm always eager to support...
Nick Ramsay: 7. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's strategy for delivering the decarbonisation agenda in the social housing sector? OQ55865
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. I think we all support the aims that you've just set out, as do our housing associations, of course. They want to help to deliver on the decarbonisation agenda, but obviously this is going to involve funding, and hopefully that can be done without the cost of rent rises being passed on to the tenants. To avoid some of the most vulnerable tenants having to pay for this...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, I was pleased to hear you just say that you're looking at ways to—I think this was the expression you used—'unlock sports' during this time of the pandemic. As we know, during lockdowns and firebreaks, physical activity and sport are all important. So, in response to Mike Hedges's initial question, and if I could follow up in two ways, first of all, what are you doing to...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, as we know, the Auditor General for Wales has qualified his opinion on the Welsh Government accounts for the first time ever, because £739 million of expenditure was omitted relating to the Welsh Government's coronavirus response. This was something that was discussed with officials in the Public Accounts Committee on Monday. Had the cost of the business support...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Gweinidog. As you say, and I agree, there's no question at all that the Welsh Government were right to commit that funding to support businesses across Wales during the pandemic. But I'm sure you'd agree that it is important that money that is spent by Government is accounted for properly. I also appreciate, as you said, this is a technical issue, and a very technical issue for those...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. I know that officials have been working hard, as we found out on Monday, to try and sort this out. I think that this is a technical issue, but, for the good of the Welsh Government's accounting reputation and, indeed, for the good of other devolved administrations' reputations, if there is indeed an issue with their accounts as well, we do need to have an undertaking on...
