Thank you, and thank you to all Members for your contributions today, and especially to members of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee for their report and the very welcome scrutiny that the committee has given to this important matter. I’d also like to place on record my thanks in particular to the Chair of the committee, who I believe has led an excellent exercise in an entirely impartial and objective way.

Over the summer, I’ve been involved in complex and, at times, as you will have seen, controversial discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport. But my priority is securing a way forward that is in the best interests of the people of Wales. Now, firstly, I’d just like to briefly touch on where we have come from with the current franchise. Members have already identified the incredible growth in passenger numbers, up 60 per cent between 2003 and 2017. It’s a staggering fact that the Welsh Government, since 2011, has invested £200 million in the network, in spite of the fact that rail infrastructure remains non-devolved.

Looking forward, we need to ensure that our network can facilitate growth, and I do welcome your views within the report to help support me in achieving this. My ambition is to lay the foundation for a network of transport infrastructure across Wales, and especially within the metro area, that has the potential to deliver a step change in the way that we can use transport and, in the south Wales metro area, to develop a model that can act as a blueprint for elsewhere in Wales.

I agree with the committee’s 10 priorities for the procurement of the new Wales and borders rail service. These are reflected in our requirements for the next rail franchise and are included in the procurement specification and across the evaluation criteria.

I would like to briefly touch on a number of points that Members have raised this afternoon. Firstly, the contribution from Jenny Rathbone—I can assure you, Jenny, that the design of the metro will take place in a way that complies with the objectives of the well-being of future generations Act, especially as far as consultation with communities and with passengers is concerned, and in a way that promotes active travel and encourages modal change.

Mark Isherwood, you spoke about the need to reward risk. I’d heard that within the banking sector prior to the financial crash. It’s my view that the current franchise offers no demands for service improvements, as Vikki Howells has identified. Instead, our proposals will incentivise—