Andrew RT Davies: 6. What changes to business rates in Wales does the Cabinet Secretary intend to bring forward following the UK Government's budget announcement regarding business rates in England? OAQ53035
Andrew RT Davies: Obviously, the Welsh Conservatives will be supporting the regulations that are laid before the Assembly this afternoon. If you look at the comments of David Attenborough yesterday at the climate conference that is being held by the United Nations in Poland—. And it most probably is appropriate to focus maybe on the climate conferences that have periodically happened, because the First...
Andrew RT Davies: Leader of the house, could I seek two statements, or clarification at the very least? The first one is a letter received from the First Minister in relation to the environmental impact assessment that was promised on the Barry incinerator by the Minister for Environment back in February of this year. I received this letter on 21 November from the First Minister, and he says in this letter...
Andrew RT Davies: Leader of the house, in the Chancellor’s recent budget, he made available £900 million to alleviate business rates in England. In Pontypridd and other town centres across my electoral region, business rates come up time and time again as being an obstacle to regenerate those high streets and give confidence to people to invest in them. The Chancellor’s initiative of £900 million will...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate and formally move the amendment in the name of Darren Millar. I think one thing we could do by starting this debate is thank the many thousands of farmers the length and breadth of Wales for the tremendous job that they do in looking after the countryside, whether that's on the mountain, whether it's on the...
Andrew RT Davies: Obviously, there is—. And I'm grateful for the information to date that the leader of the house has put on the record, but given that there is a leadership contest going on at the moment in Labour, and this has been a topic for discussion, the current First Minister has been very careful not to prejudice himself, and I don't think any one of the candidates has prejudiced themselves...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that answer. We on this side of the Chamber have obviously lost confidence in Natural Resources Wales after a sequence of scandals, disasters and reports that have indicated even staff themselves within the organisation have very little confidence in the senior management. That is something that is highly regrettable given the very important role that Natural...
Andrew RT Davies: I join the Member for Pontypridd in highlighting the Pontyclun station as a real pressure point, especially with developments that have gone on in recent years—but developments we know will be happening in the future. Over the last week, I have literally been bombarded by constituents in that area who have had a particularly poor experience of the service that's on offer to them, with...
Andrew RT Davies: 2. Does the Cabinet Secretary still have confidence in Natural Resources Wales as the body responsible for overseeing the environment in Wales, in light of the recent Public Accounts Committee report? 238
Andrew RT Davies: Leader of the house, could I revisit the M4 discussion that was just had in FMQs? During an environment and sustainability committee meeting last week, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport was before us. He clearly outlined that the planning decision is a decision for the First Minister and him alone. It's not a collective responsibility decision of the Government as a whole, which...
Andrew RT Davies: Back in March, leader of the house, I did ask the First Minister what leadership role the Welsh Government was taking to reduce the premature deaths through poor air quality. We know that 2,000 people a year die prematurely through poor air quality here in Wales. That's 6 per cent of all deaths in Wales, or five every day. Those are really, really major figures that we've desperately got to...
Andrew RT Davies: I do welcome the Cabinet Secretary's intervention with the new code that has come into force this month, I believe I'm correct in saying, albeit it was laid before the Assembly back in the summer for consideration. I would like to reflect on an issue that is in my own particular area, and I appreciate that the Cabinet Secretary will not be able to speak directly to the Llancarfan school...
Andrew RT Davies: I congratulate the Petitions Committee and in particular the way the Chair introduced the debate and outlined the considerations and arguments that have been put before the Petitions Committee. As someone who was on the original Petitions Committee back in the 2007 to 2011 Assembly, I well remember an exercise similar to this being undertaken in that particular Assembly, when we went down to...
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, I invite you again to apologise, because I noticed that you haven’t put an apology on the record yet. But could I see some clarification in relation to the statement that was put out by Transport for Wales yesterday—a welcome statement to give us an overview of the situation? They talk of, out of the 127 engines available to them, 36 are off the tracks, as it were, in...
Andrew RT Davies: The news was alarming last week, obviously, that Flybe have put themselves up for sale, because, in some markets, they are a very successful airline and achieve real growth. In the early years of the Government's ownership, significant loans were made to Cardiff Airport, with the purchase price on the loans in excess, now, of £100 million, I believe the slate talks of. Part of that money was...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, obviously, it's welcome news that new schools are opening up to provide Welsh-medium education, not just in Cardiff, but across the whole of Wales. But one thing that is really important is the ability to supply those schools with quality teachers able to teach the curriculum. With the devolution of teachers' pay and conditions, what analysis has the Government taken about many...
Andrew RT Davies: I find that remarkable, that intervention from the Member for Anglesey. I recognise the work that he has done as an individual, but it clearly shows that he has failed to win the argument within his political group, and therefore I fail to see how, when the reference in the amendment is quite clear to Wylfa Newydd specifically and doesn't widen any broader than that, he, certainly, as an...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is my pleasure to move the two amendments in the name of Darren Millar this afternoon. Just talking about the generalities of the debate, it is good that we do debate these issues. One thing that Wales has is an abundance of natural resources that if harnessed correctly, could help the energy footprint, not just of Wales, but of the rest of...
Andrew RT Davies: On that very last point, I was going to ask for a statement; I'm quite surprised at how dismissive the leader of the house has been on that. Many constituents, over the last week, certainly, have contacted me, and it has been evidenced here today with the leader of the opposition's comments and the Member from Plaid Cymru's comments and hard evidence of trains just not turning up. I think in...
Andrew RT Davies: Twenty-first century schools, First Minister, as we've heard you many times say, is about improving the school estate across Wales. In my own electoral region, the Vale of Glamorgan Council are proposing to shut a small rural school that has a good role to it, has a bright future ahead of it—Llancarfan school. I appreciate you can't talk about the specific case, but surely it is not right...
