Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 15 June 2016.
Can I thank the Member for his question and say that we declared very publicly that we believe the tolls should be in the hands of the Welsh Government. Now, it’s estimated that removing the tolls would boost productivity in Wales by something in the region of £100 million or more every year, and I can see no justification for continuing to disadvantage Welsh businesses once the concession ends. Now, it’s our intention, were we able to, to reduce levels of the tolls, alleviating the burden on the economy, but the Member also points out rightly that the tolls are a cause of congestion. So, we also need to ensure that if we remove that cause of congestion, we don’t simply add to the burden and the troubles that are caused at Brynglas tunnels and, instead, we make sure that we resolve the M4 as well.