Can I thank the Member for his question? He is absolutely right in that the lack of affordable, reliable, and frequent public transport is a major barrier preventing many people from gaining work. We know, based on all available statistics, that in the Growth Track 360 region of north Wales and the Mersey Dee area approximately a quarter of people who receive job interviews are not able to go to them because they cannot get transport to those interviews. That is an appalling—an appalling—statistic, which must be addressed.

We have piloted the mytravelpass. It’s continuing whilst we consult with young people and with the bus sector on a sustainable replacement scheme. It’s my view that there are current schemes operating in the UK that are sustainable that we could look to to learn from. I was recently, with colleagues, in Liverpool learning about the Merseytravel scheme for young people, which I believe operates on the basis of £3 can get you anywhere anytime, as many trips as you want per day in that region. That’s the sort of model that’s innovative, it’s sustainable, and it’s fair, and that’s the sort of development I’d like to see in Wales.

But, fundamentally, we need to reform the bus sector itself—modernise the bus sector, get better-quality buses being utilised, and change perceptions of bus travel as well, so that people access bus services not as a last resort but because they are of a sufficiently high quality to experience an enjoyable trip. I think in terms of rural communities especially bus services are absolutely vital. We’ve maintained the bus services support grant of £25 million for several years now, because we’ve recognised the value of bus services in rural communities. I’m keen to make sure that we work with the sector and with passenger groups to find more sustainable ways of growing patronage on bus services so that the level of public subsidy can be reduced without affecting the attractiveness of transport on buses.