, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip
5. How does the Welsh Government support voluntary organisations that tackle loneliness and isolation? OQ62059
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Well, the first chunk—well, the chunk that's been done—is very impressive, just to say that.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you, and I think you have said earlier on how the increased farebox revenue is going to improve things. In our latest scrutiny session, you stated that you were 'hopeful' that the metro would now be complete in 2027. How have the delays affected the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you. I'll move on to rail services now. The increased capital funding for rail services support includes a £54 million transfer from within the MEG. Can you outline where this funding has come from and what it'll deliver?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you very much. I think that does clarify that. As in previous years, we had asked that your paper included a table detailing total and per capita allocations for bus service and community transport support in 2025-26 compared with each of the previous…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Diolch. The Welsh Government's response to our last draft budget report said it's 'not possible to assess the impact of our budget' on bus services. So, I wondered if you could comment on why that is, and I know that you have said that you're trying to make…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Yes, that'd be great.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
I've met a number of groups of varying disabilities to discuss this issue, and the point that they wanted to make, really, was that they are very supportive of active travel in all its forms, and obviously they're very pleased that there will be an emphasis…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Yes. Could I just say one thing?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
And what has been the response from stakeholders? Have you had much discussion with stakeholders about this?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Yes, thank you very much for that response. I'm very supportive of making it all inclusive, and I'm looking forward to meeting you with the Guide Dogs for the Blind, actually, fairly soon. But, obviously, there has been progress made in increasing the amount…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you. Can you provide further detail on the shift in priorities to focus on walking and wheeling? I think there was some discussion about this with Janet earlier on, but how is that reflected in the draft budget?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
And how will you ensure that the Welsh Government and local authorities meet their duties under the active travel Act and the reporting requirements in this new approach that you've got?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
I think you've covered some of this already, but Audit Wales raised a number of concerns about how active travel funding is monitored and evaluated. How will you address this, particularly when the funding is included within a wider regional allocation?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Can I just clarify, then? You're asking each local authority to put forward one proposal in the active travel field, and that will not be competitive. You would be able to fund each of those bids for all the local authorities.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
So, can I be—?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
Thank you. We want to go back now to active travel. I know we started to discuss it with Janet's questions, but if we could get a bit more detail, please. Your paper says that funding for active travel is to be confirmed, so could you provide details on how…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Yes. I think it's having an impact.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
I just want to say I really strongly—. I think this is an absolutely crucial area of our work. Certainly around this area, a lot of wooden stiles have been replaced now by gates that open, which clang, which isn't very pleasant, and don't look so nice, but…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
So, it's likely to be in the next Senedd term.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
So, do you think this could be brought in before the next Senedd election?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
No, I think that's all right. So, I'll just go on to the last question. It's about the flood funding. That's been moved into the same BEL as its wider grant-in-aid funding. So, how are you monitoring NRW spend on flood and coastal erosion risk management?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Yes, I think that would be helpful, yes.
