Nick Ramsay: Yes, and there are many things in this—. I think I mistakenly said 'substantial changes' earlier—I meant important changes, rather than substantial changes. But, yes, we always abstain on the supplementary budget, because it does represent a change to the previous budget that we did not support, so we don't want to cause confusion where it's not necessary.
Nick Ramsay: I've been mentioned twice, so I've got a right to reply.
Nick Ramsay: I’m pleased to contribute as well to this debate, and was pleased to take part in the Finance Committee's scrutiny of the supplementary budget. I concur with the comments that the Chair of the Finance Committee has made. Thank you for your reference to the work of the Public Accounts Committee. The work in terms of the local health boards and the financing of those is still in progress, so...
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, you've already given the Minister for culture one namecheck today, or I should say another Member did. I was delighted to welcome the Minister to my constituency for a meeting with Cadw and local residents at Raglan castle last week. The meeting was primarily about the successor to Cadw's resident access scheme, but attention quickly turned to the dangers for local...
Nick Ramsay: I was just about to ask you, First Minister, how you managed to wangle an invitation to this secret ceremony that I didn't get invited to either, but you've taken the wind out of my sails on that one. [Laughter.] Would you say that the question about the—[Interruption.] [Laughter.] And there's always the Alun Davies road going from Brynmawr to Abergavenny, isn't there? [Laughter.] Maybe...
Nick Ramsay: I'm getting to a question. The question about the name of the bridge has been raised many times, but isn't it more important, First Minister, that the tolls on that bridge have been reduced and are going to be abolished later this year? Whatever you think about the name of the bridge—some are for it, some are against it—isn't it a fact that people are now going to be able to enter Wales...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Member take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. I fully understand why you want to bring forward a debate on the tidal lagoon, and, as you know, we share the disappointment of the Assembly and Wales that that hasn't gone ahead. Do you think there would have been a case, though, for putting together a motion that all parties here could have signed up to pretty easily, which would still have had issues with the UK...
Nick Ramsay: As an intervention was required, I'm sure that the Secretary of State was there in spirit, Cabinet Secretary—[Interruption.] And he might not have been in those particular meetings, but, of course, the role of Secretary of State is to help liaise and facilitate those sorts of agreements, and, at the end of the day, the fiscal framework was something that you worked very hard on, I know,...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, the development of the gender identity service for Wales will make it much easier for transgender people to access services and support locally, without the need to travel further afield. Can you say a little bit more about your commitment to setting up a network of GPs with a particular specialism in gender identity to ensure local access? You've touched on this with Siân...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, there have been concerns expressed from some quarters that we may be putting all our eggs in the electric basket and the electrification basket in terms of rail and cars at the very point when some countries are moving fast towards a hydrogen economy. I suspect that, over the medium term, it will be a mixture of both that will provide the carbon reductions that we need....
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the Chair for his statement? You've covered most bases there, actually, Simon, and we considered this in-depth during our short inquiry on the Finance Committee, so I've only got a couple of questions, a couple of areas I'd like to highlight. This probably isn't the subject over dinner tables across Wales, but it is, certainly—[Interruption.] Well, maybe yours, Simon....
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, leader of the house. I was pleased to share a cross-party platform recently with the First Minister at an event sponsored by PinkNews to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of section 28, and also to welcome the progress in recent years by governments of all colours in advancing the rights of the LGBT community. You mentioned funding for Stonewall Cymru, and I'm sure...
Nick Ramsay: I'm getting the message that my questions have pre-empted a statement that can be expected from the Welsh Government in the near future. Maybe I'm ahead of the game. Thank you for that, Cabinet Secretary. Certainly in terms of the work that we've done in the Public Accounts Committee, there has been a message coming across that there's been a concern about a lack of communication between the...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. You spoke about the way that the mutual investment model differs from PFI; I think this has been an area of some confusion. There is a lack of clarity out there as to the nature of the differences with traditional PFI. If I can just give some examples: in a conventional PFI—a PF1 or PF2 deal—soft services are usually considered to include catering and...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I'd like to ask you about the proposed use of the mutual investment model, and specifically with regard to twenty-first century schools. You will be aware that the Public Accounts Committee has been investigating the use of the mutual investment model for financing capital projects, specifically band B of the twenty-first century schools programme. There...
Nick Ramsay: 5. Will the Leader of the House provide an update on Welsh Government policies for supporting the LGBT community? OAQ52337
Nick Ramsay: Will the Leader of the House make a statement on the Welsh Government's policies for tackling domestic abuse?
Nick Ramsay: Yes. Actually, we're very pleased with the way that the tax arrangements were implemented—the historic tax arrangements for Wales—because it was all done digitally. It was a very complex project and, actually, there were no problems at all, which is always very pleasing, Llywydd. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance is always very anxious to have occasions on which he can wax eloquent about...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Leader of the house, this lunch time I was pleased to host the Agricultural Law Association event in the Senedd, attended by my colleague David Melding and a number of other AMs. The subject was the devolution of taxation and the impact of primarily stamp duty—land transaction tax—on rural communities in Wales and the agricultural community. I wonder if we could have an...
