I’d like to thank the Member for his questions. We were very disappointed that the UK Government has not agreed to invest more in the network within Wales and those parts of the network in England that are operated as part of the current franchise. Historically, the network has been underfunded and I think the latest statistics suggest that only 1 per cent of the network spending has come to the Welsh routes. So, without a shadow of a doubt, there is a need to significantly increase the amount of investment in Welsh routes. Indeed, we would like to see those funds devolved so that we could ensure that a correct and appropriate amount of investment is available.

Presiding Officer, I think I should say that, in order to ensure fair and open competition and, indeed, to protect the integrity of the process, it’s not going to be possible for me to release any specific details, or the Welsh Government will face the risk of legal challenge insofar as the procurement exercise is concerned. However, I would like to, in response to the Member’s questions, just outline again what I stated in July with some details about the actual dates.

We’ve gone through the process of the consultation with the public. I think I said back in July that we had received something in the region of 190 responses from a very wide range of stakeholders. That consultation informed the initial stage of discussions with would-be bidders. Last week, four bidders were identified and named as having an interest in taking forward the next franchise. By November of this year, bidders will have responded to our call for outlying solutions.

Leanne Wood mentioned earlier a specific issue in her consistency regarding rail travel. What will happen next is that, as bidders develop their technical solutions, their focus will be on how to achieve our critical objective of delivering four services per hour to each of the Valleys. So, what’s going to be taking place up to November is that a series of outline solutions will be presented to Welsh Government. Following that, we will open up a consultation that will last approximately 12 weeks. That will be managed and operated by Transport for Wales. Again, it will enable the public and will enable stakeholders to give views on the future franchise. Dialogue will then commence with the bidders in the new year—we anticipate in January 2017—with the final tender process taking place between July and September of next year and then, as Members are already aware, the contract will be awarded by the end of 2017, with operations beginning in 2018.

The Member for UKIP earlier asked about dates and time frames for the operation of the metro. As the First Minister has already identified, phase 1 is actually being delivered, with £13 million of investment in the network. We expect the mobilisation of phase 2 to commence from 2017 onwards, with early works commencing on the metro phase 2 in 2018, so that by 2023 metro services in areas of the city region will be completed and operational.