8. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the budget allocated to the economy and infrastructure portfolio in relation to road safety? OAQ(5)0140(FLG)

The economy and infrastructure portfolio will invest more than £700 million over four years in new transport infrastructure, and those plans will take account of road safety considerations. In this financial year, we are investing £11.6 million specifically for road safety initiatives across Wales.

Thanks for that. There seems to be a problem developing with school lollipop staff, or road-crossing assistants as they’re sometimes known, because the number has decreased by 23 per cent over the past three years. There isn’t currently any legal duty for councils to keep the crossing assistants, but, of course, they are needed to keep a perception of safe routes and will assist with walking to school and active travel targets. So, I wondered if anything could be done to protect the role of the crossing assistants.

Well, can I agree with the Member that the work that is carried out by crossing patrol staff in Wales is very important? The reasons for the reduction in the number of staff actually are more complex than they first seem. It is true that, as staff retire, councils in different parts of Wales have taken the opportunity to review whether or not a further post is needed. But the larger problem is actually in recruiting people to do this job. It is quite shocking, actually, sometimes, Llywydd, to read of the experience of crossing patrol staff and the abuse that they suffer from motorists in carrying out their jobs, and recruiting people to vacant posts has not been easy. In some parts of Wales, the problem has been partially solved by schools themselves taking a greater interest in filling posts, and town and community councils being willing to assist in that as well. So, there are some solutions that are being attempted. The issue that the Member points to is a real one.

Cabinet Secretary, in the latest year for which we have figures in Wales, 6.6 per cent of all road traffic casualties are cyclists. This is a slight reduction on the previous year, but still the second highest recorded figure since 1984. Do you agree with me that councils, and indeed the Welsh Government in its budget allocations, have to take safe cycle routes seriously, and we need to designate them, not by painting a line near the pavement down the length of the road, but be serious about having exclusive cycle routes to key destinations, particularly in our urban areas?

Llywydd, the most vulnerable road user groups are pedestrians, pedal cyclists and motor cyclists, and we’ve talked a lot in the Chamber here about motor cyclists and actions that can be taken to try to make roads safer for them. The big picture, as the Member knows, is that fatalities in road accidents in Wales have fallen over a 30-year period. The actions that the Welsh Government takes, using the £11.6 million specifically for road safety measures, include actions to support local authorities in the work that they can do to protect cyclists on their roads, and I’m sure that they will be aware of the points that the Member has made this afternoon.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.