Adam Price: The First Minister last week said that the ONS are not able to give a definitive ruling until contracts are signed in relation to project proposals, but it is the case that they are able to give a provisional ruling on classification. I’m relying here, Cabinet Secretary, on the ONS official guidance on the classification process, which says: ONS is occasionally asked to provide...
Adam Price: I mentioned the mutual investment model, but I understand, from what he Cabinet Secretary said this morning, that he does not believe that the issue, identified as part of the decision over the Circuit of Wales, has any bearing on the classification regarding the mutual investment model. Could he say a little bit more about why he has come to that view, and, if so, was not a similar approach...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, as we know, the Government declined to support the Circuit of Wales project, based on the risk that it could be classified as being on balance sheet and, therefore, would have major implications for the Welsh Government’s budget. Now, I’m interested in the decision-making process that led to this assessment in relation to balance sheet classification, as it...
Adam Price: As long as you don’t call me Arthur Laffer. [Laughter.]
Adam Price: But to turn that argument on its head, if the figures that Gerry Holtham has produced to support his case—you know, the 67 per cent rise that’s coming our way in the short term in non-residential care costs—it would in incautious, of course, not to find a means of funding the quality of care that we, in a decent society, would want to provide. I think that it’s a very, very...
Adam Price: I welcome this debate and I welcome, in general terms, the Government’s desire to test this provision. In reference to one of the amendments, I’ve never quite understood this phrase, ‘We’re not in favour of change for change’s sake’. I mean, in the very basic sense, I don’t think anyone would be in favour of that, but, actually, change for social change’s sake, change in the...
Adam Price: One of the great disappointments, I think, when the Minister’s written response to the report was published, was that the Government at the time wasn’t able to give any lead on the two recommendations that were most far-reaching in terms of providing a solution to this situation, namely regulating the private sector, as Hefin David mentioned, in terms of improving standards, but also...
Adam Price: What actions is the Welsh Government taking in response to the proposed plans to close the Tesco Customer Engagement Centre in Cardiff? TAQ(5)0191(EI)
Adam Price: Speaking earlier today at the Welsh Retail Consortium event at the Senedd, Cabinet Secretary, you discussed the importance of effective dialogue between Welsh Government and the retail sector. In that context, how surprised—indeed, how angry—were you that Tesco, Wales’s biggest private sector employer, gave you no advance warning whatsoever, as I understand it, about these substantial...
Adam Price: The Cabinet Secretary will recall the incident in my constituency with Valero and the leak of oil into Nant Pibwr. At the time, NRW had carried out a number of tests in terms of the soil and the water, and they said that they weren’t able to publish the results in case they needed to use those in any legal proceedings. Can the Cabinet Secretary give us an update as to whether those data are...
Adam Price: We welcome, of course, the passage of the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill. As has been said a number of times during this process, I think it’s a very important step in the development of the first tax regime for Wales for nearly 800 years. Wales’s progress has always been, perhaps, a zig-zag, but there is progress, and it’s part of the maturing of our democracy, to tell you the...
Adam Price: In one fell swoop, we’ve gone today from being the future location of the Circuit of Wales to the endless location of the circus of Wales, because we are now an international laughing stock as a result of the shamateurism displayed by the Government. Now then, there must be a day of reckoning, I’m afraid, for the mistakes that have been made, but today let’s focus on the questions. Can...
Adam Price: I’m genuinely interested in his reply. The 30 per cent income per capita gap between Wales and the rest of the UK—how much of that does he think is caused by immigration?
Adam Price: Yes, I will give way.
Adam Price: I don’t want to detain people on this point, because I think Steffan Lewis set it out very admirably. I almost feel as if I am in an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ moment here, you know, when I hear mature politicians actually refusing to accept the term that everyone else in the world uses, including European Union officials and including the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Actually, Full Fact,...
Adam Price: Of course, following on from that point, the paving legislation in the Queen’s Speech today, which referred to the trade deals—they created an entire department, of course, for this very purpose, so the UK Government is clearly still wedded to this path. The point about the customs union is well made. It isn’t true, of course, that single market membership and trade deals are...
Adam Price: If we could move, finally, to another major project, could the Cabinet Secretary update us on the compound semiconductor foundry and cluster project announced as part of the Cardiff city region city deal? I understand that the city region team are in negotiation with your own property team over the acquisition of the packaging and testing building on the old LG site, which has been empty...
Adam Price: I’m grateful for that answer. Could the Cabinet Secretary set out the criteria by which he will arrive at his final recommendation to the Cabinet? I understand his demand of a 50 per cent or less Government guarantee and named investor term sheets has already been met. The external due diligence they referred to has covered a wide range of areas: economic impact, fit-and-proper-person test...
Adam Price: Could the Cabinet Secretary update us on where we are in terms of a decision on the Circuit of Wales? The First Minister said, on 6 June, that he expected a decision to be made by the Cabinet within two weeks—therefore, by yesterday. If it hasn’t proven possible already, could he give us a date for when that Cabinet discussion will happen, and can we still expect an announcement of that...
Adam Price: Only in Wales could the answer to the exam question ‘How we as a nation become a world leader of innovation’ be the establishment of not just a committee—not even a committee—but a sub-committee, which is what Research and Innovation Wales is in relation to this new body. Can the Cabinet Secretary confirm that this is diametrically opposed to the advice to the Government’s own...
