, Plenary
Topical Questions
Yes. The roads review panel recommended that, instead of progressing the project in its current form, there's a strong case for considering a review of the whole of the north Wales corridor, as recommended in the UK Government's union connectivity review's…
, Plenary
The Corporate Joint Committees (Transport Functions) (Consequential Modifications and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2022
I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for his comments and for his feedback from his committee, and I'm glad that we've agreed a way forward, and I hope that Members are able to support the regulations.
, Plenary
The Corporate Joint Committees (Transport Functions) (Consequential Modifications and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2022
Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. As the Minister for finance has just said in her debate, one of the core functions of the new corporate joint committees is to deliver a duty to prepare a regional transport plan, and as we've just heard, this duty will…
, Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Public transport in rural areas
James Evans, in his exchanges with Hefin David, and in his original contribution, posed the question: why didn't the Labour Government of the late 1990s rip up the fragmented system? I think what they did was a genuine attempt to use a partnership approach…
, Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Public transport in rural areas
Thank you very much to the Members who've spoken and for bringing this debate. Again, I think we've shown in this Chamber cross-party concern and support for the plight of public transport and a will to improve it. I think that that is a precious thing that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
That's certainly our ambition too, but we are still awaiting a decision from the UK Government in respect of the funding submitted under the Restoring Your Railway scheme, which will allow us to progress our plans to take forward the reopening of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
We've provided a £70 million loan to Blaenau Gwent council to work with Network Rail to enable an hourly Newport to Ebbw Vale service from December 2023. Our longer term ambition is the provision of four services per hour on the line.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
I can confirm what the Member says: the bridge definitely will be replaced and we're hoping it'll be in place a year from now, between late March and April 2023. It has taken longer than expected. As Hefin David said, it was severely damaged by a lorry and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
We support active travel routes in Caerphilly by providing the council with a core allocation from our active travel fund each year, and by offering the opportunity to apply for additional funding through a range of grants. In this financial year, Caerphilly…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
As I mentioned in the answer to Rhun ap Iorwerth, we recognise that climate change means that these events are going to occur more frequently and they do pose a problem to our critical infrastructure, and we are committed to doing what we can to address that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Yes. I noticed it was raised both in First Minister's questions and in Prime Minister's questions by Simon Baynes—erroneously, because he's blaming the Welsh Government for something that is the responsibility of the local authority. I understand the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, the Member is right. This is very real indeed, and we know it's going to get worse as climate change intensifies and making our roads resilient to the threats of storms and also the impact of extreme heat is one of the things we need to do as we adapt…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
I note that no good wishes were offered to me as I recover from my cold, but I'll put that to one side. The Welsh Government have measures in place to manage trunk roads that are affected by weather events, including flooding. The local road network is, of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, I think we all agree we need to plant more trees, therefore it follows that we need more land to plant those trees on. The UK Climate Change Committee estimates that we need around a 10 per cent shift in land use from food production to tree planting…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, Sam Kurtz is right that ash dieback is a serious threat to our tree population. Some 97 per cent of the ash population across the UK is estimated to be vulnerable to being infected by ash dieback. Just this week, the Wales strategic ash dieback group…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Yes. The trees and timber deep-dive exercise identified the actions we will take to increase woodland creation, including a new funding scheme and changes to the way projects are verified. These are being implemented and overseen by a delivery panel, which I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, as you know, we've been waiting for the publication of the latest World Health Organization guidance on clean air in order to base our Senedd law on that standard, and that has only recently been published. We're now completing that, and there are…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you very much.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
Can I give a very brief example to reinforce what Julie was saying? So, on tree planting, for example, as part of the deep dive, we looked at this in detail. And this is our fault, in what we're asking NRW to do, but currently, or hitherto, the review, NRW…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
TfW have one planned. We've paused it because of, obviously, the omicron variant. It's a global phenomenon, people's reluctance to get back on public transport. That obviously has significant financial implications for the budget in how we have to support the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
I don't think it's quite a question of competence of the local authorities, to be fair; I think it is a question of capacity, and I think it is a question of grid availability for the charging infrastructure. I've been to visit the Cardiff Bus depot and seen…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
The Euro 6 buses are better from an air quality point of view than current diesel buses, but from a carbon point of view, they're no better at all because they use a lot of energy. So, we do need to be getting to a situation where we have an all-electric bus…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
I could see your disapproval, Julie. So, you're right, and we need to do better on that, and we're on it, but we simply can't magic money out of the air that we don't have. I don't know, Steve, if there's anything you want to add.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
I'll ask Steve Vincent to come in in a second, but I think Carolyn very succinctly sets out the range of challenges we're facing and the range of pressures there are for scarce capital budgets. It is just worth repeating that we do not have the funding that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23 - session 2
Just to acknowledge Carolyn's expertise in this, having worked at the front line of local authorities trying to implement our policies, so I listen very carefully to what she has to say. I think her idea of an apprenticeship is an excellent one, and I'd be…
