Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:11 pm on 8 November 2016.
No-one listening to him this evening could deny the Cabinet Secretary’s desire and passion to get these institutions to work to the best of their ability. But I have to echo some of the concerns voiced by Suzy Davies and Dai Lloyd this evening. Whilst UKIP is in broad agreement that we utilise all possibilities with regard to generating income from these unique national assets, it is worrying to see that we are talking of yet another body, possibly viewed as another quango, even if this body were in-house. So, firstly, will this body be in addition to the four bodies that now exist? Secondly, as you have mentioned, paragraph 3 on page 2 of your statement points out that Cadw had its best revenue year ever last year. So, given that you admit that the setting up of a new body may be very costly, would it not be better to set targets for the existing institutions or simply merge some of these institutions in order to achieve the required results? Will you step back just one step from what seems to be the line that you’re taking—that’s the fourth option that’s available—so that you review again all the other options? Thank you.