7. Will the First Minister make a statement on public transport in North Wales? OAQ(5)0130(FM)[W]

Well, I believe that I answered that in the answer to the last question.

Well, yes, we’ve discussed the south Wales metro a fair bit earlier in this session, and your party published a plan for a metro for the north-east, to all intents and purposes, and they were lines on a map and many stakeholders have given their opinion of that. But isn’t talking about a metro just empty talk when much more basic services aren’t being provided, for example, following the failure of GHA Coaches? And would you accept that there are questions that your Government should answer from the fact that the Government knew months in advance that the company was facing very serious financial difficulties? The company wasn’t saved, of course, but what disappointed many people was that weren’t alternative arrangements in place immediately after the company went bust. There are still people who can’t travel to work in Wrexham and can’t travel to education in Wrexham because of those services lost. That isn’t good enough, is it?

But that is the responsibility of local authorities, not the Welsh Government. But, on a broader point, it is crucial to ensure, and it will happen, that this Assembly has the responsibility for bus services. For example, for many years, of course, a traffic commissioner based in Birmingham was regulating Wales, and that isn’t right. In getting those powers, it’d be easier for the Government and this Assembly to ensure that the services are run in the way that we want them to be run. As regards the metro, studies are being undertaken in order to develop a business case to proceed with the metro, and we are working with stakeholders in order to see how we can progress that project.

Finally, question 8, Rhianon Passmore.