I would like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today and for his comments in regard to the work of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee. I look forward to his acceptance, I hope, of all of our recommendations.

First, with regard to the procurement process, your letter of 12 July to me on the merits and risks associated with publishing the full draft specification to Assembly Members, notes that you will not publish the draft specifications in full. However, you’ve not made it clear either in your letter or in your statement today whether or not the final specification will be published, when it is published, when it—. I’ll start that again. You’ve not made it clear either in your letter to me or your statement today whether or not the final specification will be published when it is issued to bidders in the final procurement stage, once the invitation to tender is issued. You have previously confirmed that you will also not publish the evaluation criteria in full. In oral evidence on 6 April, the Welsh Government director of transport also appeared to indicate that the final specification would not be made public when it’s issued to bidders, instead saying that the Welsh Government could consider publishing the final specification once the contract has been awarded next year.

Now, I do understand that it is normal procurement practice for those public authorities procuring rail franchises in Britain to publish the specification, and I’ll give you an example, the Department for Transport’s invitation to tender for the East Anglia franchise was published in full in September 2015. Also, Transport Scotland published the full invitation to tender for the ScotRail franchise in January 2014. So, it does therefore appear that the Welsh Government is taking a different approach to procurement and moving away from, perhaps, established practice. You have not formally clarified whether or not the final specification will be published, so I would be grateful if you could put this on the record today and explicitly say whether the invitation to tender, including the final specification, will be published when it is issued to bidders this summer. And, if not, I would be grateful if you could say why not, given that invitations to tender and specifications for British rail franchises are generally published and commonly face public scrutiny once they have been published.

I will say, Cabinet Secretary, this is a contract that’s estimated at in excess of £4 billion for both the franchise itself and the metro infrastructure. It’s, of course, the largest ever awarded by the Welsh Government and there’s a great deal of interest in its content. I’m sure you’ll agree with that. So, do you, therefore, agree with me that transparency in such a large contract is in the public interest, especially given the evidence from stakeholders that suggests that the procurement process has been opaque from the start?

I would like to briefly ask a few questions on rolling stock. I think it’s good news that Wales is going to get the new class 319 trains for use on the Wales and borders franchise from 2018 to 2021, but can you outline, Cabinet Secretary, whether or not the five units will be delivered at once, how many units will be taken out of service and how long to make them DDA compliant, which part of the network will these trains operate on, and what additional capacity will be created as a result of the new rolling stock?

Finally, acting Presiding Officer, I think it is essential that the Welsh Government maintains public confidence that the new franchise has been specifically designed to deliver value for rail users in Wales. I therefore hope that the Cabinet Secretary will answer my questions in a way that demonstrates how the new Wales and borders franchise will guarantee the realisation of public demand for a rail service that delivers fair and affordable fares, new trains, modern trains, an integrated network and a more environmentally friendly service.