Nick Ramsay: What guarantees can the Welsh Government give to the agricultural industry about farming subsidies after 29 March 2019?
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Trefnydd, I'm sure you'll agree with me that Mike Hedges always has interesting things to say. I listened closely to your question to the First Minister in questions earlier, Mike, where you suggested that congestion on the M4 could be relieved by utilising the A465 and the A40, the Heads of the Valleys link, for traffic entering Wales and heading to south-west Wales from...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I've asked this question a number of times to your predecessor and, indeed, to the Minister for Economy and Transport. The abolition of the Severn tolls was a very welcome decision in south-east Wales and, indeed, the wider south Wales M4 corridor, improving connectivity with the south-west of England, but there's already evidence that it's impacting...
Nick Ramsay: 6. How is the Welsh Government working with the UK Government and others in progressing plans for a Chepstow bypass? OAQ53239
Nick Ramsay: I appreciate you might be factually correct when you just said that none of the committee recommendations were that the Bill should proceed, but the Chair of the Finance Committee has eloquently said in his contribution earlier that we as a committee were unable to decide one way or the other. So, we didn't reject the Bill either; we simply said we didn't have enough costings provided to us,...
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the Minister for her contribution to today's debate—and, indeed, the briefing that you provided me with earlier in the footsteps of your predecessor? I appreciate you've come in almost towards the end of this budget-setting process, so I don't expect you to be an expert on everything. It was good to see, however, that the blame game with the UK Government continues apace as it...
Nick Ramsay: This is a historic day for Wales with, for the first time ever, before us, this motion to set income tax rates. If I can ask two quick questions of the Minister—I was about to call you Cabinet Secretary for a moment. First of all, you said in your opening comments that you don't believe that there should be any changes to income tax rates relative to England—I think you said up until...
Nick Ramsay: I last spoke with Steffan on his last visit to the Assembly before Christmas, when I remember speaking to him outside the Chamber here in a break in debate. It was clear at that point how ill he was. I told him that we were—all of us, every one of us in the Chamber—rooting for him. He thanked me for that and he said it was the work as an Assembly Member that was keeping him going, that...
Nick Ramsay: I'm pleased to contribute to today's debate and to support this motion—a motion that was moved very eloquently, as usual, by David Melding at the start of this debate, and he made some very important points. I think we all know that we've got a problem when it comes to housing in Wales. Let's face it, as Leanne Wood just said, we've had that problem for a considerable length of time, so...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way, Dai. I agree with much of what you've just said. Do you agree with me that, during the course of the inquiry, it was ironic that Professor Holtham pointed out that when he looked at public opinion in Wales, it seemed to be that there was a lack of understanding, to a great degree, about the scale of the problem that we're facing? That shows how we really need to address...
Nick Ramsay: I'm pleased to contribute to this debate and, indeed, to have been a member of the Finance Committee and to have taken part in the report of the Finance Committee review. It was a thought-provoking inquiry about an issue that, as the Chair of the committee has said, is of growing concern and should be of growing concern to all of us. As we've heard, the proportion of older people in Wales has...
Nick Ramsay: I seem to remember some time back, Minister, being pretty positive about the free breakfast scheme when, possibly, some Members weren't, including you, obviously, but water under the bridge. The Welsh Government's free school breakfast scheme has been a flagship policy, as you yourself said, for many of your predecessors for a long period of time, but it has come under increasing pressure...
Nick Ramsay: Welcome to your new position, Trefnydd—I hope I got that right. Could we have an update from the Welsh Government—either the Minister for Economy and Transport or his deputy—on the provision of electric charging points for cars in Wales and the electric charging infrastructure in general? We know there have been some issues with that over the last year. In my constituency over Christmas...
Nick Ramsay: I'm not au fait with the rural observatory, either, First Minister, you'll be pleased to know, so I'll ask you about a different aspect. I'm sure you'd agree with me that sustainable rural communities require a sustainable transport infrastructure. I often joke that you could have hopped on a train in my village of Raglan back in 1955 and travelled to Cardiff to work or to shop. Sixty years...
Nick Ramsay: Paul Davies.
Nick Ramsay: Something of a groundhog day here, Cabinet Secretary, but Darren Millar did ask about this area as many other AMs have, like me, received e-mails from constituents concerned about the availability of the vaccine in question. The most recent e-mail I received was from a 75-year-old from Abergavenny, who was unable to receive the vaccine as his local GP practice has limited stocks and is...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, you recently highlighted the importance of understanding the real levels of HIV in Wales, and I think, as you added, the number of people living with HIV here is probably underestimated. The Terrence Higgins Trust have produced statistics that relate to the UK as a whole, with a breakdown, but there's very little data in their statistics relating to Wales specifically....
Nick Ramsay: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the availability of the flu vaccine this winter? OAQ52954
Nick Ramsay: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on GCSE outcomes in summer 2018?
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, I asked you last week, I think it was—it was certainly recently—about the availability of flu vaccine across Wales and whether we could have an update from the Cabinet Secretary for health on that availability. Since then, I've been inundated by more e-mails by people who've been unable to access the vaccine, one only yesterday from a patient of the Castle Gate...
