Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.

On 18 October last year, I came to this Chamber and made a statement about the future of local bus services in Wales. The statement was made in the wake of some significant and high-profile business failures within the Welsh bus sector that had a significant impact on local bus services provided in Wales and in England. In response to these failures, I announced a five-point plan to support the bus sector in the short term. This included support from Business Wales and from Finance Wales, the appointment of additional transport co-ordinators in north and south Wales, together with a programme of meetings with representatives of the bus industry—both in the private and in the public sector—to discuss some of the threats and opportunities facing the bus sector in Wales. We are making progress on delivering this action plan.

I expect the transport co-ordinators to be appointed very soon. I am also continuing to meet with representatives from local authorities, their bus companies, and the Confederation of Passenger Transport. As part of the five-point plan, I also promised to host a Welsh bus summit—the first to be held in Wales. I am pleased to be able to report that the summit was held last month in Wrexham. I very much commend the open, honest and positive attitude that was collectively adopted by the delegates attending the summit. I believe that we made real progress in framing the threats and opportunities that are facing the bus industry across Wales and in developing a programme of activity that will support the industry over the short to medium term.

Through a programme of workshops taking place over the next 12 months, we will be working with the bus industry, local government colleagues and other partners to consider how best we can improve the passenger experience at bus stops by providing improved facilities and consistent passenger information, develop funding solutions that offer greater stability to the bus industry in Wales, and deliver an integrated transport system that provides improved accessibility and ticketing solutions fit for the twenty-first century.

Delivering a more effective network of local bus services, together with the development of seamless, integrated and multimodal ticketing arrangements as part of the south-east and north-east Wales metros, will be fundamental to our objective of building a connected and sustainable society. As I said at the summit, the public investment in our public transport system is substantial. Taken together with public funding provided to maintain free bus travel for older people and disabled people, contracted bus services for learner travel, community travel and funding provided to support rail services in Wales, the public sector investment in our public transport network is in the region of £0.5 billion annually. I’m simply not convinced that we are getting the value for money that the people of Wales have the right to expect. While we take forward the short to medium term measures set out in my five-point plan, we also need to start a national dialogue about the longer-term framework for the delivery of local bus services across Wales. Next week, I will be publishing a public consultation on a set of suggested measures that, in the longer term, could reform the way in which bus services are planned and delivered across Wales. One of the clear messages emerging from the bus summit is that the current framework imposes too many constraints on bus operators to work together to benefit passengers. The current framework also imposes too many constraints on the Welsh Government and our local authority’s ability to plan and to fund improvements to local bus services and ensure that they’re able to full integrate with other local public services.

We need to ensure that local authorities are provided the tools to plan and organise services in their areas and that local authorities exercise these functions with transparency and with accountability for people living in their areas. We need to ensure that the best characteristics of the private sector are maintained to ensure that the social responsibility that we all share to deliver effective and efficient services to the public is safeguarded. This means striking the right balance between our duty not to inhibit the benefits that effective and fair competition can bring to the delivery of local bus services against meeting the needs of passengers and securing value for money for the public purse.

In my view, that does not mean aggressive competition on the street and at the bus stop that harms the interests of passengers, but effective competition that drives up quality standards and provides a fair return for bus operators. I’ve recognised and acknowledged the significant investment that has taken place in our local bus services by bus companies operating in Wales. There has been significant investment on routes operated to communities in the south Wales Valleys. These new bus services will encourage people out of their cars by offering levels of service and quality that, until a few years ago, many people in Wales would not have expected. People not familiar with those local bus services in those areas need to take a look at what’s on offer now.

But this level of quality, punctuality and reliability is not universally available. Significant challenges remain. So, as part of the national dialogue on the way forward, the consultation will set out some suggested proposals that I believe could make a significant improvement to bus services in Wales. Let me be clear: this consultation forms a basis of the continuing national discussion and dialogue that I want with bus operators, local authorities and passengers about the way we can deliver local bus services in the longer term. Let me also be clear on the aim of this work and the goals I’m seeking to achieve. Firstly, I want to increase the number of people of all ages using buses for their daily commute to work, for education, access to health services and for leisure activities. Secondly, I want to improve the availability of good-quality and accessible local bus services for passengers right across Wales. Thirdly, I want to establish a national and local bus network that is fully integrated with other travel modes and services provided across Wales. Fourthly, I want to see a more sustainable bus network for the longer term. And lastly, I want to deliver a fair deal for passengers, staff, bus operators and the public sector—a financially viable and sustainable bus network that provides value for money and safeguards the best characteristics of the commercial bus sector.

I want to ensure that our bus services, as part of an integrated public transport system, make a significant contribution to safeguarding the well-being of future generations. We all recognise that our public transport system is key to tackling poor air quality zones, supporting a sustainable and thriving economy and contributing to our ambitions for improving low-emission mobility as part of our efforts to achieve decarbonisation. I want to see the rolling back of the more damaging effects of the changes made to our local bus services more than thirty years ago—a change that served only to undermine, threaten and destabilise local bus services.