Nick Ramsay: All credit to you for managing to find different answers to all the questions on broadband today and different statistics. I think your file will be running out soon. As my colleague Russ George said earlier in questions to you, many families in rural areas dropped off the Superfast Cymru scheme originally, which was very disappointing. Can you update us on your assessment of the potential...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, given that you've got those very useful figures to hand in front of you, it would be remiss of me not to ask about my own local authority, at the risk of being parochial. Monmouthshire County Council—what share are they going to receive of that £30 million? We've heard how much Caerphilly will receive, so if you could update us on that, that would be great. And, also,...
Nick Ramsay: 5. Will the Leader of the House provide an update on the availability of superfast broadband in Monmouth? OAQ51806
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank everyone who's contributed to today's thought-provoking debate? You were all great. You all raised many issues of importance. Can I also say, first, in response to the Cabinet Secretary's comments, that I'm pleased that you are going to be supporting today's motion? It has been tabled in a constructive way and one in which we really hope to move the debate...
Nick Ramsay: Would you like to take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: I agree totally with what you've just said, and you're placing the problem of unadopted roads within a wider problem: that we've got an increasing number of estates now run by management companies with services provided. I think you're exactly right: the developers move on to the next site without properly finishing what they've got already, and we should address that with legislation.
Nick Ramsay: Thanks, Lee. [Laughter.] I'm delighted to speak to Lee Waters and to the rest of the Assembly as well. I'm pleased to subscribe to this motion. Roads are an issue close to my heart, whether I'm supporting them or opposing them, with some of my colleagues sometimes. And at the heart of this motion is the fact that, when you leave the beaten track of our motorways and our A roads and B...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Member take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: I've got those statistics in front of me as well, Dai Lloyd, and, as you say, 1972 is going back—well, it's when we entered the European Union, isn't it, or around that time. Would you join me in calling on the Welsh Government to get the up-to-date statistics so we know what we're dealing with in this situation, and then we can move on and get these roads sorted?
Nick Ramsay: I appreciate the Cabinet Secretary for his answer to that. In asking the question, I'm aware that there are big differences, but nonetheless these areas, I think, do need to be scrutinised. Adam Price has already mentioned the Wales Audit Office criticism of recent procurement procedures. Their remit is here, clearly, but there have been faults with procurement procedures across the UK as...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I asked a number of written questions to the Welsh Government—some to yourself, some to the economy and transport Secretary. And, as I understand it, the Welsh Government has signed five contracts with Capita for the delivery of services in Wales. I further understand that there hasn't been any substantive discussions with Capita within the last six months. Do...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Llywydd. I refer the Cabinet Secretary to the questions already asked by the previous Member. That's the problem with coming second, isn't it, but there we are—not politically, that is, I mean in the order today. Cabinet Secretary, procurement is clearly on the lips of most Assembly Members in the wake of the collapse of Carillion, and that clearly affected services and projects...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, I'm glad that Joyce Watson has asked this question. This is an excellent report; well worth the read. I learnt a few things, such as that hedgehogs are hibernating between November and mid-March, so we're currently in a period of that hibernation—what was that about AMs? [Laughter.] I was particularly interested in the Big Hedgehog Map, which allows people to log their...
Nick Ramsay: I wonder why that was.
Nick Ramsay: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for today’s statement? Particularly, I’m sure you’d expect me to welcome the news that common sense has prevailed and the Welsh Government’s much-criticised proposals for a national tourism tax, as it’s now been renamed, have been well and truly land-banked, and not before time. Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last few months, you will...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, Lee Waters just rightly referred to the urban hubs of south Wales as being most vulnerable, in the first instance, to the effect of automation, and the figures that Lee Waters quoted were astounding. I agreed with your answer that we need to make sure that we are trying to get ahead of the curve in terms of competing with other countries in this respect, and making sure that...
Nick Ramsay: Will you give way?
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. You moved on slightly from the point I was going to make, but I think it needs to be made. The decision of Beeching to close many railways, back in the 1950s and 1960s, is now looked back on in history as a huge mistake. That decision wasn't properly judged or futureproofed. You've mentioned driverless cars, and you've said that, in their infancy, they may need...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, if I could take a slightly different angle to Rhun ap Iorwerth, key to promoting places in Wales once tourists and visitors get here is, of course, through signage. I remember raising with Carl Sargeant, when he was the Minister for transport, the issue of the rather outdated and, in some cases, tatty brown signage, which is found around Wales advertising our places of interest. He...
Nick Ramsay: I've also been involved in the CAMRA sphere over the years, First Minister, so we have something in common that we can talk about over a pint sometime. I agree with the sentiments that Gareth Bennett mentioned. There was a CAMRA event held at the Assembly last week, and I'm pleased to see the cross-party group on beer and the pub being re-established. There are many issues facing pubs across...
