Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. [Interruption.] Thank you. Diolch. Cabinet Secretary, one aspect or consequence of impending fatherhood is that my colleagues now allocate me every question relating to babies and children and all aspects of children's health. [Laughter.] But I've taken it well. Well, for today, anyway. Cabinet Secretary, there's been a good scheme in Newport recently: a successful scheme...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, the auditor general looked at twenty-first century schools in the report issued May last year, I seem to remember, and in that, whilst he was broadly supportive of the project and thought money had largely been well spent, he did recommend that some adjustments be made if the funding or approach changed for the next band of investment. Band B is less focused on reducing...
Nick Ramsay: You mentioned the dementia friendly event upstairs at lunchtime, leader of the house. Next door was the event—. You probably can't see, unless you have got super-duper vision, my badge there for the occupational therapists who were in the room next door. It was great meeting occupational therapists from across Wales, including from Neath Port Talbot Hospital, who enlightened me as to how...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, 20 years ago, Welsh and Scottish workers had identical pay packets of about £301 per week. Twenty years later, the Welsh pay packet contains £498 a week, whereas the Scottish pay packet contains £49 more at £547. Despite the important contribution of the living wage and the benefits system, I'm sure you'd agree that we do need to ensure fairness, particularly for those on...
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, digital inclusion is dependent on adequate broadband speeds, and I know, over many months, you've shown a keen interest in my notspots in Monmouthshire, and visited a number of them. You'll be aware that, recently, the UK Government announced that they wanted to roll out a fifth generation pilot across my area in south-east Wales. Can you update us on any discussions...
Nick Ramsay: Well, Cabinet Secretary, the Holtham model potentially doubles the social care levy from £172 to £344 for those aged between 57 and 59 within the space of 12 months, just at the point when income starts to reduce. In 2017, 71 per cent of retirees in Wales took early retirement, and the average age of retirement was 58 years and six months—right in the middle of this age range. I'm not...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. This is clearly a horrendously complicated area. It's an enormous problem that's gone on for a long time, and which will need to be dealt with in some form or other in the not-too-distant future. You mentioned Professor Holtham's research, and Professor Holtham suggested that an age-related, graduated tax might be best, at least in the short term. In her question...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, yesterday, in your statement on the vacant land tax, I described you as a jack of all trades when it came to developing new taxes; you've got a lot of different taxes on the go at the moment. In yesterday's statement, you spoke about testing the machinery in terms of the vacant land tax. If I can widen that question out into other potential new taxes that...
Nick Ramsay: I agree with both you, Cabinet Secretary, and Siân Gwenllian. I disagree with both of you at the same time, so, take that as you will. The development of the shared prosperity fund is clearly of immense importance to the Welsh economy and our goal here is that Wales should be no worse off after Brexit in relation to the structural fund allowance. I agree with what you said that we don't want...
Nick Ramsay: 3. Will the Leader of the House provide an update on the Welsh Government's policies for promoting digital inclusion? OAQ52184
Nick Ramsay: Can I welcome the Cabinet Secretary's statement today? You certainly have to be a jack of all trades in this new tax world, don't you, Cabinet Secretary? Many of the taxes involve land in some way, so I'm sure you're becoming an expert in your own right. As you said today, this is new territory for the Welsh Government and for this Assembly, and I appreciate that your statement today falls...
Nick Ramsay: Can I concur with the sentiments of Jack Sargeant? I was pleased to attend the six-month memorial dinner last week. I'm pleased to hear that around £3,000 was raised at that dinner and I think that the decision to donate the first tranche of funds to the Cruse charity in north Wales is a very good one. I know that Carl would've been proud of your efforts in this regard, and also proud of...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, I was looking forward there to saying I agree with Rhianon Passmore. Unfortunately, the bit at the end I found difficult to agree with, but the first part was positive. Can I also concur with those sentiments that credit unions do a great deal of work across Wales? In south-east Wales, my area, the Gateway Credit Union has branches in Abergavenny and in Bulwark, and as Rhianon...
Nick Ramsay: Simon Thomas—well, I was more than happy, actually, to let my former colleague on the Finance Committee shine by opening this debate. I'm happy to encourage and support other Assembly Members—[Interruption.] I'm always more than happy to have the last word, as well, which I've got today. [Laughter.] I agree wholeheartedly with the concerns, actually, that you raised about pubs, and...
Nick Ramsay: Well, that's a typical Mike Hedges comment, isn't it? So, basically, you're not denying that you've also had concerns from the sector about a higher rate.
Nick Ramsay: Yes, okay. I'll touch on it when I come to your comments later. I've lost my place now. And, yes, my former colleague on the Finance Committee will remember his drive and our drive to get the rates on the face of the Bill, because even back then—. I understand that there were concerns from some of the civil servants to do that, and from the Government to do that, but, at that time, we...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. Well, we may well have emerged, on this side, from the dark side of planet Thatcher, but this afternoon we've well and truly landed on planet Corbyn, haven't we? Can I thank everyone who contributed to this afternoon's debate? There are many of you; I'll try and mention as many of you as I can, but it may be difficult to include everyone. As the Cabinet Secretary has...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. I was listening to Siân Gwenllian's comments earlier, and she mentioned the Economy and Business Committee report from 2012. I might be one of the few people who still have a copy of it up in my wardrobe upstairs, and recommendations 16 and 17 are not word for word exactly, but say exactly what you've just said, Minister: 'Provide gender equality training for careers advisers and...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. To say that local authorities clearly have their own views on this process is probably one of the biggest understatements I've heard in this Chamber to date. But I agree with you on that. We recently held a debate that you participated in—many AMs did—on the proposals within the Green Paper, specifically the concerns surrounding the proposed mergers of local...
