Andrew RT Davies: Leanne Wood.
Andrew RT Davies: Why were you talking to us last week?
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and if I could, first of all, begin by congratulating your good self on assuming the Presiding Officer’s role, and, indeed, the Deputy Presiding Officer, Ann Jones, on winning the ballot last week. I’m sure we are in safe hands—good hands—and ultimately you will map out your own very distinct way of running the Assembly’s affairs and standing up, as you...
Andrew RT Davies: 2. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government’s priorities for transport infrastructure developments in the fifth Assembly? OAQ(5)0015(FM)
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. One of the key things in the election that was recently held for the Assembly in South Wales Central was the proposal for a Dinas Powys bypass. This has been much mooted over many years, and various reincarnations have been brought forward about policies and proposals to try and bypass the village of Dinas Powys. With the huge developments that are...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’d like to identify myself with the comments about Annie Mulholland. I had the pleasure of sponsoring the event that was held and was widely supported by many Members of the previous Assembly, and, indeed, the previous health Minister spoke at that event in the Pierhead. Through her tenacity, through her dedication and her commitment, rather than letting her...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that answer. [Laughter.] One of the key programmes that you will be bringing forward is obviously the M4 relief road and, in particular, your own personal support, and, therefore, identifying that with the Welsh Government, over the development of the black route. Now, you answered a question earlier about the process about the public inquiry. In a written question back to me...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Obviously, the Government has committed itself now to the commissioning of this project by 2018—spring 2018. I appreciate that the public inquiry is outside of your hands, but, with a fair wind, then the commissioning will happen and we will look at developments with interest on these matters. The other issue that is of time sensitivity is,...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon, and I too congratulate all the Secretaries—sorry; they’re not Ministers now—on their appointments that you made last week, and I wish them well in their endeavours, in fairness. They might politically be on the opposite side of the fence from me, but obviously many people are depending on the decisions that you and your officials...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, in the agreement that you reached to form the Lib-Lab coalition that we have as the Government here in Wales today, part of the Lib-Dem manifesto was taken into your programme of Government about reducing class sizes. The cost of that was some £42 million, or the estimation was £42 million. In your own manifesto, you said that the Labour...
Andrew RT Davies: I notice you didn’t answer the question there, because I think it’s important to understand: will you be making money available over and above your own manifesto’s commitment to meet this new commitment that you’ve taken into your programme for government? It’s a perfectly legitimate question, because I would hope that, before you agreed to this, you did put it through the civil...
Andrew RT Davies: So, there will be new money coming in to the education budget to meet this commitment. I think that’s the point that you were making. But your education adviser, David Reynolds, has identified that it maybe isn’t the best use of money to increase education attainment levels. But, if you are a school, a headteacher, and a governing body, to meet this requirement, would it mean that you...
Andrew RT Davies: Can I congratulate you, Minister—Cabinet Secretary, should I say—on your appointment, or reappointment, back to the Cabinet? Two statements, if I could, I seek off you—and I do declare an interest as a partner is a farming business. The first is, obviously, a statement on what the new Cabinet Secretary will be doing to seek to achieve a better working relationship with the farming...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, First Minister, for your statement. I’d also like to commend the Secretary of State for the way he has engaged in the process before the publication of this Bill, in meeting all the parties in this Chamber and many from outside of the Chamber and up in Westminster, to bring forward a Bill that is a dramatic difference, shall we say, from the draft Bill that was debated and...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, thank you for your statement, and, obviously, the previous statements that you’ve made to this house, both written and oral statements. I do commend you for going out to Mumbai, along with Sajid Javid, and standing there as two Governments, shoulder to shoulder, to seek assurances from Tata Steel. I would be grateful to understand exactly at what level those meetings were...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, last week in response to my questions on the deal that you struck with the Liberal Democrats, you indicated that your Government would be making available an additional £42 million to meet that commitment over and above the Labour manifesto commitment of £100 million to education. You also then went on to say that if you had the responsibility...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, it is not unreasonable to ask the question: what will have to give in your spending commitments to meet your new commitments? I’ve identified £42 million that you’ve committed to last week; a potential liability of £15 million to £20 million if you get rid of the Severn bridge tolls at the end of the public concession—the concessions to the current Severn bridge user;...
Andrew RT Davies: As a Conservative, I fully understand that you can borrow, but you have to pay back borrowing and that has a cost in itself, year in, year out. But, I did also ask you about the education commitment that you made, which we welcome. I also made a comment about the £15 million to £20 million that you would have to meet if you were to abolish the Severn bridge tolls, which, again, in some...
Andrew RT Davies: Could I raise two matters with you, leader of the house? The first is: could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government on the obligation that he believes local authorities have to maintain council roads? It seems, across the whole of the south Wales region, councils seem to have given up filling in potholes and maintaining the surfaces of the public highway. And the...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, I appreciate that employment law and issues around employment are reserved matters, but the business advice that the Welsh Government supports, especially to new businesses and in particular to start-up businesses, is a vital component of being able to alert employers and employees within those businesses to what could avert some serious situations that end up costing those new...
