Adam Price: What consideration has the Minister given to expanding the transitional relief available to small businesses affected by the 2017 non-domestic rates revaluation?
Adam Price: I commend the Minister for taking a close personal interest in selling Wales abroad. I think that’s a very, very important role for the Cabinet Secretary. I would think, though, that alongside activity, of course, we need strategy, and I was interested to hear his comments just now drilling down a little bit into the fairly serious decline in our export position overall that we’ve seen...
Adam Price: The Labour Government does seem to go through these periodic phases where it abolishes bodies that it established and then seeks to claim the credit for it. I suppose we’ll have to call this one the mini bonfire of the mini quangos. But I have some sympathy with him. I don’t often doodle in the Chamber—I promise—but I tried to do a little organogram of his department—I stopped at...
Adam Price: Already this month the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced the establishment of an infrastructure bank for Canada. The former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has called for the same for Australia. Hillary Clinton had campaigned in favour of an infrastructure bank, and, although Trump had opposed that, the President-elect has just said that he wishes to create an...
Adam Price: I think the First Minister will know that I’ve raised with him other cases from north Wales, actually, when I asked him about the effects of the revaluation and the hikes that businesses there have been experiencing. So, I think it is clear that a number of businesses throughout Wales are facing an extreme increase in their liabilities as a result of the revaluation. So, would he look again...
Adam Price: 8. What consideration has the First Minister given to the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales having the function of an infrastructure bank? OAQ(5)0279(FM)
Adam Price: Of course, the UK Government has stated that they would support a British bid to stage the Expo for the first time in over 150 years. Manchester has already stated that they intend to submit an application for the main Expo in 2025, with a target of 28 million visitors. That’s almost three times the number that attended the Olympic Games. Considering the benefits, shouldn’t Wales also be...
Adam Price: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on whether or not the Welsh Government will explore the potential benefit to Wales of a Welsh bid to host the world expo in 2027/28? OAQ(5)0264(FM)
Adam Price: I’m extremely grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for his honesty on the dire situation at the moment. A number of constituents have been in contact with me to convey their concerns about the waiting list, which represents hundreds of people awaiting treatment. Some patients had to wait eight months before receiving a hearing aid. Has the Government carried out any assessment of the cause of...
Adam Price: Finally, can I urge the Cabinet Secretary to look, not just at the economic gap between Wales and the rest of the UK—indeed, the rest of Europe—but also the economic gap within Wales, absolutely, particularly at a time when many people in the Valleys and rural Wales feel as distant from the centres of power and wealth as the people of the midwest or the rust belt feel from Washington DC?...
Adam Price: On this theme of big ideas, the Bevan Foundation yesterday launched a powerful report that made the case for designating the whole of the south Wales Valleys as an enterprise zone. Is there an opportunity to go even further here and actually seek permission from the UK Government for the whole of Wales to be made an enterprise zone, and for us to have the corporation tax powers that are being...
Adam Price: Diolch, Lywydd. I think, Cabinet Secretary, we’ve seen again overnight, haven’t we, the way in which political consequences flow from an economic agenda that has failed to deliver change for the majority of people. So, would he agree that now is the time really for bold, big ideas that have the potential to deliver transformational change for our country and our people? In this spirit, I...
Adam Price: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on audiology waiting times in Hywel Dda University Health Board? OAQ(5)0055(HWS)
Adam Price: What discussions has the Minister had with the University of Wales Trinity St. David regarding the Yr Egin project in Carmarthenshire?
Adam Price: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her answer. We have exchanged correspondence on this issue over the summer, therefore she’ll be aware that I have met with a headmaster in a local primary school who had conveyed concerns to me about the possibility for schools to present data in a misleading way in order to improve their categorisation. Now, in her response to me, the Minister said that...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the National Schools Categorisation System? OAQ(5)0044(EDU)
Adam Price: My father was there in Orgreave on the morning of 18 June 1984 and like many others he looked on in incredulity as a sea of 8,000 police officers opened up—many of them, of course, in full riot gear with long shields suddenly opening up to allow a cavalry charge through to chase down miners, like my father, just dressed in T-shirt and jeans. It was only luck, actually, that he was not...
Adam Price: A number of businesses, particularly in rural areas, have been in touch with Plaid Cymru Members to discuss the impact of the increase that they’re currently facing—for example, a pub is facing an increase of 200 per cent. We are talking about thousands here. We have an example of the Vale Country Club, which arranges wedding in Ruthin, and their rateable value is going to increase from...
Adam Price: Thank you, madam Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for today’s statement and indeed for the commitment to create the infrastructure commission, originally set out in the compact, and also for the willingness that he has just set out in his statement for the role, the remit, the status and the focus of the infrastructure commission to evolve, and for it...
Adam Price: First of all, I would like to thank the finance Secretary for his statement today and for the phone call that I received from him earlier too, but most of all, for the process of discussion that we went through over a period of months over the summer. Of course, the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government is testament to those mature discussions that we could use as a foundation for...
