, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
You might not know the answer to this. If you don't, I could look—well, I was going to say 'I could'; our researchers can look it up. How many aircraft are currently in operation in the United Kingdom, and how many were before COVID?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
So, the Flybe aircraft have all been scrapped.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
You've said several times about the finite number of aircraft, as if it's a fixed number that cannot increase. If I had Airbus sitting opposite us here now, they'd be telling us about the number of aircraft they're making. If I had Lockheed sitting there…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
Let's assume you're correct on this; why aren't we attracting other holiday airline companies? Why are Bristol, Birmingham, even Bournemouth, attracting other holiday airline companies and Cardiff isn't?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
We'll have further discussion about it probably the next time you come here. I've got a question now, and you may wish to take it into the private session—I accept that. We've got the effect of inflation, which is affecting people's abilities to spend. The…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
Just to get correct what you're saying, there's demand for flying, but the people who run those flights are not meeting that demand. So, it is a lack of provision by people who run aircraft that is causing the failure to increase your numbers, and if you had…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
We know people travel less. I travel on the M4 and it's a lot quieter than it used to be. We know from train operators that people are travelling less by train. We know from bus operators that people are travelling less by bus, and we know from your figures…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
So, cutting a long answer short, the answer is 'yes'.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Cardiff Airport: Evidence session with Cardiff Airport and the Welsh Government
I'm going to be very helpful, because the answer will be either 'yes' or 'no'. It's to the airport. Have the latest passenger numbers met the milestones in the rescue and restructuring plan?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
As long as the local authority approves it. They can't just say, 'We're going to run a deficit budget.' A number of people have seen the political benefit of running a deficit budget, but the local authority has control over it. There are times when you have…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
We'll need to ask that of somebody else. Okay.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
What effect has it had on companies, if any, or is that outside your remit?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
Just very simply, when did IFRS 16 actually come in—not for us, but when was it brought in as an international standard?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
Moving on to something different, new accounting standards for leases. The Minister said something a few moments ago—well, more than a few moments ago, because I went on a bit—that it would not have any effect on spending on services, and that a lot of it is…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
I'll stop here, but although we should get 36 per cent of expenditure, we're not getting that 36 per cent, and I think that's a point that all of us have made at different times, including you, Minister.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
We don't get—.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
With a project that goes from one place in England to another place in England, cannot be seen as anything but an English project, if they actually nipped across to Wrexham, there might be an argument, but they don't.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
With a project that goes—
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
Yes, but we were just told that we get 36 per cent of transport spend.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
HS2. I was covering HS1 and HS2; I was trying not to be too specific, but the high-speed links. You're saying now that we're getting 36 per cent of the money spent on that. Because we've been told differently in the Chamber—that we're actually getting nothing…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
You've got the big rail scheme in England.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
So, we got 36 per cent of the £6 billion being spent on the big rail schemes in England. So, somewhere, if I look at our accounts, I'll find roughly £2 billion of capital in there.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
And we didn't get our 36 per cent of the big rail schemes, did we? We got zero of that—am I right— because they treat it as rail, which is non-devolved, as opposed to transportation, which as you said, is 36 per cent devolved.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
I'll move on to something that is partially devolved, which is transportation. How do they deal with that, because if it is mainline railways, that's not devolved, if it's buses and roads, it is devolved, and how they describe the money being moved there…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government First Supplementary Budget 2023-24: Evidence session
Peter Walker was brilliant at making the same announcement several times. He'd go up to Merthyr and announce additional money for the south Wales Valleys, then he'd go up to Rhondda and say, 'There's additional money for the south Wales Valleys,' and that…
