, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you. I'd be happy to check the figures he quoted, because they're different to the ones that I've been provided with by Stagecoach. But the point is, whether it's 10 or 30, there were small numbers. Nonetheless, it's socially necessary and we want to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, we do exist within the legislative framework that is set in Westminster, so that is a fact, and we do exist within a funding system that is designed in Westminster—that also is a fact. And the way the Barnett formula is currently working and being…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you. Well, the example of the Grange is a really interesting one and a bit of a case study, I think, of what is wrong with our current system and what our new system needs to do differently. Now, the commercial sector decided that they didn't think…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you. We are working at pace to bring forward the new Wales bus Bill later in the year to transform the way services are delivered across Wales, and I'm working closely with local authorities to develop a new bus network plan for south-east Wales.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, Llywydd, I slipped earlier into a very odd bit of Westminster language—I don't know where that came from—so let me use a more deliberate bit of Westminster language to Gareth Davies: I refer the Member to the answer I gave a moment ago.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Okay, so do I understand from the Member's question that he is not in favour of franchising, because, of course, that requires investment? We're not introducing the same system as Manchester is; we're introducing a different system, which will be based on…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, indeed, I will remind the Member of what I said to his colleague. Providing socially necessary bus services is a legal responsibility of local authorities. So, rather than looking entirely to the Welsh Government to address the problems in his area, he…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you. Well, I agree that the current bus network is not what we would like it to be. I think we've rehearsed many times in this Chamber the pressures facing the bus industry from reduced patronage and increased cost and shortage of drivers, as well as…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Llywydd, I understand you've given your permission for questions 3 and 5 to be grouped. We are working at pace to transform the quality of local buses to serve communities across Wales. In advance of the bus Bill, which we hope to introduce later this year…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you for the question. He is right—he has been a persistent advocate of the importance of the scheme, and I've been able to meet him a couple of times to discuss it. I think the fundamental problem here, and we've seen this in other parts of Wales, is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, I think Altaf Hussain perfectly sums up the consequences of the deregulation of the bus industry that we saw in the 1980s, where routes aren’t run based on social need but they are run based on where private companies can turn a profit, and that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you, and I agree, also representing an area in south-west Wales, on the importance of the south Wales metro. We’ve always said that we’re going to have to do the metros in sequence, and we’re starting with the south-east Wales metro and the work is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Delivering our vision of safe, accessible and affordable public transport across Wales continues to be our priority. The Welsh Government continues to provide high levels of public subsidy to support public transport.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you for the question.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing supply
Thank you. That's a very good example of the positive impact our decisions and our investment has made: almost £1.2 billion allocated to the social housing grant over the first four years of this Senedd term. In the context of the economic pressures that we…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing supply
I will.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing supply
No, I won't. Social housing is our priority, and should be a priority that we all support. We've made an ambitious commitment to deliver 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector this Senedd term, and I believe the case for investing in social…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing supply
Diolch yn fawr. Let me first thank Darren Millar for the opportunity to debate such an important topic today. We clearly agree on the need to build more houses, and I think we agree on at least some of the barriers. In the last few years, the house building…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing supply
Formally.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 2
Can I just give a very small example on mainstreaming? Because some of this is around service bending of existing spend. In the highways area, for example, we have now produced an action plan of how we promote biodiversity on the trunk road network. We're…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 1
We did a pilot of that from the Valleys taskforce in upper Brynaman and lower Brynaman, working with the community transport provider. We're just about to launch a community electric car club network around Wales, and that has the potential to involve…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 1
Okay. Well, this is a really complex problem, clearly. It's got a huge cultural dimension, which we won't touch upon, but needs to be acknowledged. The issue of rural transport barriers is a really important one. Next month we are going to be launching a…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 1
Well, I'm sure Julie will want to say something about this, but briefly from me, we have put in the funding this year: we've made a small amount of money available to local authorities to work on a regional basis to develop their regional transport plans, but…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 1
No, and there are risks with it—it creates all sorts of other pressures that we are conscious of, but it's a better system than we've got now, but I'm sure Julie would like to add to that.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25 - part 1
Well, I think Julie and Peter would like to come in on that because that's a far-reaching question, but what we'll have is a planned system, and so we will know the basis on which we are letting the contracts. We will have strict conditions in terms of what…
