Can I thank Jenny Rathbone for her keen interest in this subject and say that, first of all, ticketless travel is overtaking integrated tickets at quite a pace and certainly, it is something that we are looking at as part and parcel of the development of the metro? I also recently raised this with the Secretary of State for Wales in terms of the potential to be able to remove some of the congestion at the toll stations on the Severn crossing—being able to utilise free-flow technology.

Now, the Member is right to say that I approach this with caution, but this is not a question of whether I or the Welsh Government want a particular route, it’s a question of need, and it’s my view that we need a solution to the congestion that we see on the M4, and it’s my view that the best option is the black route. We need it because, every single day, 100,000 trips are taken on the M4 and, with the black route, 10 minutes for every single one of those trips could be given back to the economy, given back to the people of Wales. In total, that amounts to something in the region of 694 days of people’s lives being saved from sitting on the M4. That has to be good for economic productivity; it’s got to be good for families and for individuals.

We know as well that the payback of the costs for the proposed route are somewhere in the region of 3:1. That is very good for the economy of Wales, especially when you consider that many of the companies that will be delivering these projects are Welsh based. We know as well that, as part of the work that would be committed, local workers would fill roles, and 20 per cent of the total labour costs from employment of new-entrant trainees and apprenticeships will provide hope and opportunities for many people, not just in south Wales but from right across Wales.

Over the course of construction, there would be 3,000 jobs filled and that equates to around 700 people employed on the scheme every month. So, not only will the relief road be able to deliver, in our view, major economic benefits during the construction phase, in the long term the M4 relief road will be able to give access to employment sites with the capacity to cater for something in the region of 15,000 jobs, and I’d be very keen to work with the Minister for Skills and Science to ensure that not only do we have the right infrastructure in place to serve economic development and a flourishing economy in Wales, but that we also have the right skills available to the people to be able to maximise opportunities for themselves and their families.