Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. I suppose you shouldn’t be surprised that a Conservative would appear slightly conservative. I wouldn’t have said that I was talking about an argument of inertia; I would have preferred the word ‘caution’. I’m not going to put words into the Cabinet Secretary’s mouth, but in terms of that maxim, ‘Not having change for change’s sake’, I think that...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch yn fawr. I'm pleased to contribute to today's thought-provoking debate, Cabinet Secretary, and to move the amendments in the name of Paul Davies. As the Cabinet Secretary has himself said, these are times of change for this institution and for Wales. We're about to see the introduction of the first new Welsh taxes in 800 years—how many times have we heard that in this Chamber over...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, First Minister, for that answer. As you know, a large percentage of Wales’s area is rural. I remain particularly concerned that the Welsh Government has not gone quite far enough in recognising rurality in its funding of local authorities over the last few years. Delivering services such as social care in a rural setting is always going to face additional costs when compared to...
Nick Ramsay: 2. What plans does the First Minister have to recognise the additional challenges of delivering public services in rural areas in the distribution of local government funding? OAQ(5)0697(FM)
Nick Ramsay: Apart from Mike Hedges. I even remember one debate where poor old Ken Skates was wheeled into a debate to defend Jeremy Corbyn. The look on his face said it all at that point. I mean, goodness me, I’m probably closer to Jeremy Corbyn than Ken Skates is. [Laughter.] Those were the days, but how things have moved on. Now, they want to talk about leadership, don’t they? So, that is a welcome...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank everyone who has contributed to today’s debate, and thank the Minister for her comments? A debate that, as Russ George said, is about breaking the circle, and, as Darren Millar—our resident student—said in opening this debate, this is about social mobility. Many people want to pursue education at a later stage in their life, and there...
Nick Ramsay: I’m grateful to Hefin David for keeping the focus on this issue this afternoon. Cabinet Secretary, last week I attended a ‘fly the flag for our armed forces’ event at Monmouthshire County Council’s headquarters just outside Usk, and it was a very well-attended event. It goes to show how many not just Assembly Members but people across Wales want to honour our armed forces and...
Nick Ramsay: Leanne, thanks for giving way. You make some good points about the need for Wales to be a self-confident, forward-looking nation, and I don’t disagree with you there, but you do have to accept that there has been significant progress made on many of the areas you’ve mentioned. You mention electrification, but this afternoon we’ve been talking about tax devolution—that’s happening....
Nick Ramsay: Thank you for giving way. You’ll recall, Cabinet Secretary, that members of the committee did consider an amendment at stage 3 that would have considered implementing a review process of landfill tax. We discussed that with you and you believed it would be more appropriate to have a review of LTT and landfill tax, for all taxes, rather than just an independent one. I wonder if you could...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The Welsh Conservatives will be supporting the passage of this Bill at Stage 4 of this legislation. As you yourself have indicated over the weeks and months of this process, landfill tax, as the second tax to be devolved, may not be the talk of pubs and clubs across this country but it is nonetheless an important tax, an important tool in the often talked about...
Nick Ramsay: Leader of the house, three years ago this month I brought forward a short debate to this Chamber calling on the Welsh Government to look at better ways of supporting people suffering from motor neurone disease, an extremely cruel condition that afflicts its sufferers massively. This month is MND awareness month, and the Motor Neurone Association are promoting the My Eyes Say campaign. Three...
Nick Ramsay: Will the First Minister make a statement on the proportion of Monmouthshire residents able to receive superfast broadband by the end of the current contract with BT Openreach?
Nick Ramsay: Move.
Nick Ramsay: Move.
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. This was, in many ways, a probing amendment. We did have this discussion, as you said, at Stage 2, Cabinet Secretary. It was all part of the discussion about how independent the WRA is, how much of an arm’s-length body it will be, or how much controlled by the Welsh Government. As I’ve said with the previous amendment that Steffan Lewis tabled, I’m not entirely sure that...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to move the lead amendment of the final group. The Scottish Government has provided information about the Scottish Revenue Authority sharing back-office functions in light of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013. Due to straitened public finances and the need to provide value for money, the WRA should start, we feel, as...
Nick Ramsay: Yes, you’re completely right. When the UK tax was brought in, that was the reason. But, of course, this is a devolved tax and we’re losing money through the block grant once it’s devolved. So, over time, as the tax diminishes, then, clearly, that amount would diminish. Now, I’m not saying that that’s not happening at the UK level. Clearly, there is a fall-off in the tax, but we have...
Nick Ramsay: Welsh Conservatives support this amendment in principle. However, Steffan Lewis has—I would say inadvertently, but probably advertently—hit upon an interesting aspect with the way that this tax proceeded in committee at Stage 2. We did have discussions about that balance, that very important balance between having a tax that is there to raise funds, and we know we’re going to lose money...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you. Cabinet Secretary, Welsh Conservatives will be supporting the lead amendment in this group, which appears, as you suggested, to alter a drafting—to correct, I should say—a drafting issue in the original provision. Turning to our amendment 53, I’m very pleased to hear that you’ve decided to accept that amendment; I thought that that would be your position given the...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that. I have no wish to go through the majority of these amendments either, because, as my chief whip has said, it’s sunny outside and we don’t want to be here until the dark hours. However, Welsh Conservatives will be supporting all of these amendments, apart from—we do have an issue with the first amendment, the lead amendment, and perhaps you can...
