Questions now from the party spokespeople, and first of all this week, UKIP spokesperson, David Rowlands.

Diolch, Lywydd. Will the Cabinet Secretary update us on the latest position with regard to the Circuit of Wales project?

Yes. Discussions are ongoing between the Circuit of Wales and my officials.

Okay. I understand that a petition has been handed to the Secretary from local constituents demanding some movement by the Government. Can the Cabinet Secretary comment on this?

Yes. We’ve received the petition from the Petitions Committee, which my officials have viewed, and we have responded to the Chair of the Petitions Committee, as requested.

Given that his hugely exciting project was first promulgated some eight years ago, does the Cabinet Secretary not agree with me that constituents across the whole of the Heads of the Valleys region are fully justified in venting their frustration, given that far from the construction actually commencing, a final decision on the go-ahead for this project has still yet to made?

I very much hope that the developers are able to live up to their promise of being able to deliver this project with the necessary private sector funding. As I say, discussions are ongoing with my officials. When I discussed the matter in the summer with the developers, they were confident of being able to reach the criteria that was set and we await a formal submission from them, which we can then consider.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Adam Price.

The programme for government has a commitment to develop a new not-for-profit rail franchise for Wales. I’m not only the one, I think, that’s tried and failed so far to understand what this actually means. The policy director of Arriva Wales, speaking to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee recently, said,

‘I do not feel I have ever seen an explanation of what this concept was’.

There are four for-profit companies at the moment preparing to bid for the Wales rail franchise when the current term comes to an end. Are they wasting their time, and is it the Government’s intention to use Transport for Wales, which is currently about five people in Treforest, to bid as part of the franchise competition?

Transport for Wales itself is a not-for-profit organisation, which will be in charge of all elements of the franchise, including all concessions. Just as with any charity or, indeed, organisation, such as Transport for London, they will be able to manage the franchise in such a way that ensures that there can be a split between the actual delivery partner and the other concessions such as refreshments and ticketing to ensure that, where it is possible, we’re able to have not-for-profit organisations operating those concessions, but where we could also have capped profits, so that that prevents leakage with the delivery partner.

It seems to me, Llywydd, a bit like the tax cut that we were offered the other day. This is a not-for-profit operator in name only. One of the other commitments in the programme is to create a Wales development bank, which was born out of dissatisfaction with the way in which Finance Wales was being run. We now know that Finance Wales is bidding to deliver the new Wales development bank. One of those criticisms by the access to finance review group was that Finance Wales were managing funds wholly outside of Wales, diverting their attention from their primary purpose and effectively operating as a quasi-private company. Can I ask the Cabinet Secretary if he is aware that Finance Wales is currently bidding to run the Northern Powerhouse investment fund? Isn’t this completely inconsistent with the recommendations in terms of the development bank that it’s bidding now to run as well? Would he reconvene the access to finance task group so that they can review the business plan that Finance Wales are putting forward so that we can see that it is consistent with the recommendations that were actually supported by a resolution of this Assembly?

First, just going back to Transport for Wales, Transport for Wales reflects a model that is Transport for London, which I’m sure you would not argue is anything other than a not-for-profit organisation.

In terms of Finance Wales, the member criticises Finance Wales, but if we actually look at the figures for Finance Wales for the most recent period available, we’ll see that last year was a record year in which they invested £45 million in Welsh businesses. This year, they’re already indicating they will surpass this record, having invested more than £17 million to the end of July, compared against just over £13 million last year. This reflects year-to-date performance exceeding targets by 28 per cent.

In terms of performance on job creation, the year-to-date performance shows that it’s up 153 per cent on last year and they’re set to exceed their target of 3,186 jobs. This represents a record jobs performance for Finance Wales.

I would gently say to the Cabinet Secretary that it would be helpful if he answered the questions that were actually put to him and not simply read out his notes. I take it from his answer that he wasn’t aware that Finance Wales is breaking the spirit of the recommendations of his own Government’s access to finance review by continually bidding to run funds outside of Wales.

He will know that we’re in challenging economic times—[Interruption.] I’d give way to the Cabinet Secretary, if I were allowed to under Standing Orders. He’ll know that we are in very challenging economic times. Isn’t it time for the Welsh Government to put its foot on the accelerator rather than the break? We heard about the delay with the Circuit of Wales. The Government apparently is weighing up whether it wants to support the Egin project in Carmarthen. Two and a half years into the 2014-20 structural funds programme, we haven’t seen a single pound of capital investment on the ground in Carmarthenshire. The same is true in most parts of Wales, because the Welsh European Funding Office is still grinding with the same bureaucratic inertia as before. There’s been talk of a steel innovation centre—badly needed as a result of the news that we’ve heard from Newport. But where is it? Now we hear the transatlantic connector that was promised as part of the bid for the Swansea city region may be at risk as well. Macro caution, micro complacency, delaying big decisions and making a mess of the small ones. Doesn’t Wales deserve better?

We were waiting for the question. It was short in the end, but with a long introduction. The Member, this week, introduced his party’s strategy for investment and infrastructure with the national infrastructure commission. I welcome the paper, but the one glaring, obvious error in it is that he’s not been able to identify where, within the Government’s revenue budget, £700 million will be able to be found. Where will that come from? Health? Education? That’s one glaringly obvious mistake. You say, ‘Be ambitious’—there’s a difference between being realistic and delusional. Being able to just magic out of the air £700 million is very difficult.

The panic that we’ve seen since Brexit on the Member’s benches has been quite stark. They’ve been wanting to sign up to every project that passes over their desk—every project—billions of pounds of pledges. [Interruption.] Ambition? There we are; we call it delusion, because you cannot account for a single penny of what you’d like to borrow. Not a single penny. When asked where you’d find £700 million, you could not answer the question. You could not answer the question of where you would pay the debt from. Panic buying with no answer for how you would afford these—you call them ambitious—projects is not a responsible course for any Government to take.

When you attack us on things like inward investment or business support, your solution is always to just rehash a programme from the past, whether it be the WDA or—what was it that you said in regard to Brexit? It was a Marshall plan for the twenty-first century, designed not with any substance, but purely to identify an opportunity to create a headline.

When you actually look at the record of this Welsh Government, you will see that we have a record number of people employed in Wales. We have the largest percentage increase in private-sector employment compared to the other 12 countries and regions. Since devolution, the number of people in employment has increased more quickly in Wales than the UK. Since devolution, Wales has had the highest increase in GVA per head compared to the 12 UK regions. Yes, there is more to do, but it would not be achieved, and ambitions would not be served, by borrowing what you cannot afford to repay.

Cabinet Secretary, Wales has the oldest operating trains in the UK with some approaching 40 years of age and their ability to offer an efficient service for the modern day is quickly waning. I heard your answer to Leanne Wood earlier today. Can I ask, Cabinet Secretary, how will the Welsh Government ensure that the next operator in Wales will deliver an improved and modernised service?

We’re taking a different approach to the franchise that will be operated from 2018 onwards, where we set the outcomes and then the bidders come to us with proposals to meet them. We recognise that the current franchise is not fit for purpose. The rolling stock is insufficient and is too old. What the consultation that we carried out shows us is that passengers feel that the trains are ageing, the trains do not have sufficient services and stations are not adequate. In terms of accessibility, there were also questions over whether limited mobility can be fully and properly catered for. So, in order to make sure that we get the best possible outcomes, we’ve ensured that there’s been proper analysis of the consultation responses—more than 190 of them—and then the outcomes are set against those desires of the public.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your detailed answer there. By 2020, all stations and trains must be fully accessible. At present, just 53 per cent of stations in Wales cater for full accessibility. As Arriva Trains’ contract is coming to an end in 2018, there’s no legal obligation for them to deliver these improvements. So, my question is: is Wales on track to deliver these improvements and to deliver these important legislative demands, to ensure that disabled people across Wales have full and accessible access to the rail network?

Where we’re able to invest in stations, we have done. The Member will be aware of cases right across the country where we’ve been able to use our resources to enhance the experience of passengers. There are also responsibilities for Network Rail in this regard. Historically, Wales has not received the share of Network Rail funding that we should expect. My hope, in the future, is that we will see the required resources being invested, not just in the lines but also in the stations. The new rail operator, the delivery partner, will also be expected to invest in the infrastructure, not just in terms of the rolling stock, but, where they are responsible for it, those elements of the service provision at stations.

Cabinet Secretary, I heard your response to the Plaid spokesperson with regard to the not-for-profit rail franchise. The Wales Audit Office has raised concerns that your Government must learn lessons from past franchises and must manage efficiently and effectively the risks in procuring what is a significant investment for Wales. So, with that, are you fully confident at this stage that you are in the best place to offer overall responsibility for procuring the next franchise? Can you confirm whether Wales’s franchise will be for a wholly not-for-profit provider? Finally, do you believe that you’ve got enough resource and skill within the Welsh Government civil service to deliver the Wales franchise?

Yes. I’d like to thank the Member for the question about, in particular, the WAO’s report, which was hugely helpful in appreciating and understanding what needs to be learnt for the next franchise. In terms of human resources, I’m confident that we have the expertise within Transport for Wales. There are many lessons that we need to learn, and the Wales Audit Office’s report actually confirms what was being said by many of the respondents during the consultation period.

In terms of the confidence that I have for the next franchise, there are talks that still need to be had with the UK Government on cross-border journeys and insofar as any alterations to timetables are concerned, but I do have confidence that the schedule will be met, and, in ensuring that there are benchmarks in place for the commencement of the next franchise, I expect it to provide a greater level of service than passengers currently experience.