Can I thank Jenny Rathbone for her questions? I’ll try to be as brief as possible, but the Member is absolutely right to say that carbon reduction targets must be stretching, and they will be for the entire course of the franchise. It’s essential that the metro enables, as the Member outlines, communities to be better linked so that people can travel as swiftly and seamlessly as possible between their homes, places of work and services. It’s also important that services are attractive and convenient for the same reasons I gave to other Members.

We are making good progress, in terms of the procurement exercise, in our dealings with the Department for Transport, particularly in those three key areas that have been concerning officials: time, most of all, including the transfer of core Valleys lines assets; appropriate funding; and the transfer of functions Order, the agency agreement. All are making good progress, including the question of funding and the £125 million that we have been assured is available for the Valleys lines. In terms of the options, the Member actually raised two innovative solutions for alternatives to conventional rail—one was hydrogen and the other was battery—the bidders are being encouraged to develop options that are innovative and that suit passenger needs above all else. Again, in terms of the carriages, they will be available at the start of the next franchise. It’s absolutely essential that passengers have faith in the new franchise operator and, therefore, it will be important that new rolling stock is deployed as soon as possible after the franchise has been awarded and begins operation.