Thank you, Presiding Officer. Firstly, I’d like to thank the Chair and members of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee for their report, for their scrutiny, and for their recommendations. I’m pleased to be able to accept all of the recommendations, and I think it would be very difficult to disagree with much of what Members have said today.

In response to Jeremy Miles, I’m afraid that my enthusiasm for this particular subject led me to be mildly reprimanded yesterday for taking more than the allotted time during the bus concessionary fares statement, so I promise today that I will be as concise as possible. And I would agree also with Jeremy and other Members who spoke about the need to see bus services part of a much bigger picture.

Congestion affects the economy, it affects the environment and the health of the people of Wales, and I recognise that demand forecasts indicate that road use will continue to grow. That’s why tackling congestion is a priority focus for Welsh Government, and why it’s integral to the Wales transport strategy and, indeed, the national transport finance plan, as well as to the recently launched ‘Prosperity for All’ national strategy. The national transport finance plan, published in 2015, sets out an ambitious five-year programme of transport interventions that will take forward, across Wales, the measures that we are taking to ensure that Wales is connected via a reliable, modern and integrated transport network. Actions to alleviate congestion on the roads of Wales include developing our suite of models, so that we can better direct and predict future demands and plan well ahead. We have also made available to local authorities powers to adopt civil enforcement against a range of road contraventions, including parking, bus lane and certain moving traffic offences. And I think it is important that local authorities use these powers to ease congestion.

As Hefin David identified, we are working with local partners to identify pinch-point areas and to deliver infrastructure improvements to smooth traffic flow. Recently, we announced £24 million for pinch points, which will provide an opportunity for us to do more to tackle the junctions causing congestion, and to look at improving overtaking opportunities on key routes from north to south. In addition to this, another £15 million will be allocated through our local transport network fund, aimed at increasing safety resilience and movement along strategic bus corridors. This substantial funding forms part of an additional £83 million of Welsh Government capital funding to support road and transport schemes in Wales.

Presiding Officer, active travel infrastructure is a core component in modernising our transport network and delivering on an integrated transport system for Wales, helping to reduce vehicular emissions and helping to tackle congestion. Now, in an answer given to Jenny Rathbone a little earlier today, I indicated how I would like to ramp up investment in active travel infrastructure, and I look forward to updating Members accordingly. We do fund several behavioural change interventions, for example through our support for travel plan co-ordinators and pedestrian and cycling training, such as the Cymru Travel Challenge and the Active Journeys programme. We’re also investing in systems that support active travel management, such as the monitoring of networks through our national traffic control centres.

We’ve already provided substantial support by commissioning an all-Wales walking and cycling infrastructure survey, and have developed an active travel data mapping system that all local authorities are using for their maps. We believe that improving our public transport system is critical to raising the quality of life for the people of Wales. We’ll continue to support rail and bus services and modernise the public transport offer in Wales, including the development of integrated public transport networks such as the metro. The proposed south Wales metro will comprise a multimodal integrated rapid transit network, including improved bus and rail services. It will provide faster, more frequent and joined up bus and rail services. Enhancing connectivity is needed to support population growth and to tackle increasing road congestion. The metro project will be a blueprint for integrated transport across the whole of Wales, transforming the country’s economic and social prospects. I’ll give way.