Adam Price: Finally, can I urge the Cabinet Secretary to look, not just at the economic gap between Wales and the rest of the UK—indeed, the rest of Europe—but also the economic gap within Wales, absolutely, particularly at a time when many people in the Valleys and rural Wales feel as distant from the centres of power and wealth as the people of the midwest or the rust belt feel from Washington DC?...
Adam Price: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on audiology waiting times in Hywel Dda University Health Board? OAQ(5)0055(HWS)
Adam Price: I’m extremely grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for his honesty on the dire situation at the moment. A number of constituents have been in contact with me to convey their concerns about the waiting list, which represents hundreds of people awaiting treatment. Some patients had to wait eight months before receiving a hearing aid. Has the Government carried out any assessment of the cause of...
Adam Price: What discussions has the Minister had with the University of Wales Trinity St. David regarding the Yr Egin project in Carmarthenshire?
Adam Price: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on whether or not the Welsh Government will explore the potential benefit to Wales of a Welsh bid to host the world expo in 2027/28? OAQ(5)0264(FM)
Adam Price: Of course, the UK Government has stated that they would support a British bid to stage the Expo for the first time in over 150 years. Manchester has already stated that they intend to submit an application for the main Expo in 2025, with a target of 28 million visitors. That’s almost three times the number that attended the Olympic Games. Considering the benefits, shouldn’t Wales also be...
Adam Price: I think the First Minister will know that I’ve raised with him other cases from north Wales, actually, when I asked him about the effects of the revaluation and the hikes that businesses there have been experiencing. So, I think it is clear that a number of businesses throughout Wales are facing an extreme increase in their liabilities as a result of the revaluation. So, would he look again...
Adam Price: 8. What consideration has the First Minister given to the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales having the function of an infrastructure bank? OAQ(5)0279(FM)
Adam Price: Already this month the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced the establishment of an infrastructure bank for Canada. The former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has called for the same for Australia. Hillary Clinton had campaigned in favour of an infrastructure bank, and, although Trump had opposed that, the President-elect has just said that he wishes to create an...
Adam Price: The Labour Government does seem to go through these periodic phases where it abolishes bodies that it established and then seeks to claim the credit for it. I suppose we’ll have to call this one the mini bonfire of the mini quangos. But I have some sympathy with him. I don’t often doodle in the Chamber—I promise—but I tried to do a little organogram of his department—I stopped at...
Adam Price: I commend the Minister for taking a close personal interest in selling Wales abroad. I think that’s a very, very important role for the Cabinet Secretary. I would think, though, that alongside activity, of course, we need strategy, and I was interested to hear his comments just now drilling down a little bit into the fairly serious decline in our export position overall that we’ve seen...
Adam Price: I think I’m going to change the aperture a little bit from bus lanes in Cardiff to the world economic outlook. [Laughter.] I was wondering whether the Cabinet Secretary shares a growing global consensus, I think, amongst Governments right across the world that now is the time for infrastructure spending like never before. It may be the only policy lever that we have. One of the few positive...
Adam Price: One of the policy levers that many Governments are beginning to focus on is the idea of an infrastructure bank, as I raised yesterday with the First Minister. We’ve had one announced this month in Canada by the Prime Minister there. There was the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank last year, and discussion from the former Labour Prime Minister in Australia about doing the...
Adam Price: Can I urge him to go a little bit further? We saw, actually, a national infrastructure bank announced by his colleague, the shadow chancellor, in a speech on 27 September. It was repeated three days later by the leader of the Labour Party—it’s good to see some policy alignment happening there. Surely, rather than just expressing constantly our disappointment with Westminster, the point...
Adam Price: I’m very pleased to move the amendment on behalf of the Plaid Cymru group. I think there’s no two ways about it; this is an extremely regressive tax. If you look at the history of it, it goes back to 1601, actually—the introduction of the old Poor Law. Essentially, the problem with it was that, for centuries, of course, it was true that demand for land and property were essentially...
Adam Price: On a point of order, Chair. I’m new to this place, so I don’t know what the rules are, but is it in order for a Minister of the Welsh Government to heckle from a sedentary position a backbench Member who is trying to be heard? Could you rule on that?
Adam Price: What consideration has the Minister given to expanding the transitional relief available to small businesses affected by the 2017 non-domestic rates revaluation?
Adam Price: Some of the autumn statement money in England is going to be used to build hyperfast broadband capability through fibre to the premises. Isn’t there an opportunity here for us in Wales, as we begin to think beyond Superfast Cymru, instead of investing in a privately owned monopoly, which is highly problematical, as Ofcom’s decision today demonstrated, to create a publicly owned digital...
Adam Price: Of course, I do urge the Cabinet Secretary to invest in the south-west, in the creative industries. We’ve seen industry here in Cardiff with Gloworks—maybe Gloworks 2 might be on the horizon—and Pontio in Bangor. We need investment in the creative industries in every part of Wales, and we wish to see that in the south-west too. May I ask him—? I want to see every part of Wales...
Adam Price: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for this statement on the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill. You wait for one Welsh tax for over 700 years, and then two come along at once—funding vehicles both arriving together. We are very grateful for the opportunity, of course. This tax doesn’t raise as much in revenue as the land transaction tax—indeed, the hope is that the revenue will reduce. But...
