Will you forgive me for beginning by saying ‘purposeful consultation’ is perhaps just a little bit late for a Government whose last scheme collapsed so spectacularly and which, of course, affected my constituency? The first thing I want to speak about is those constituents. My region pretty much follows the boundaries of the old West Glamorgan authority, which, back in the mists of time and evidence and documentation that is apparently far too expensive for the local authority to disclose these days, introduced a tertiary college education policy that remains influential to this day. Neath Port Talbot borough council is still following that policy. With two exceptions, based on language and religion, post-16 education is provided by a handful of further education colleges, and a merger with Powys FE not so very long ago means that some of that offer now extends well beyond the local authority boundary. That might mean that young people have perhaps a good choice of post-16 education, but it’s in a small number of centralised campuses, which extend into mid Wales and are separated by considerable distances. So, by definition, these aren’t local for most people, and in my experience, getting up early to travel considerable distances is a pretty unattractive proposal for some young people, if my house is anything to go by, and it’s even more unattractive if the cost of the bus to college is not the priority spend from the EMA if they have it, or indeed other money if they don’t have it. Colleges were telling us, not so very long ago, that their hardship funds were being swallowed up—and this is during the EMA period—by childcare and travel costs, leaving nothing left for meeting other demands, and if the direction that Wales is going in is to centralise provision for further education colleges, then our green card policy would mitigate those two connected pressures.

My second point is about Welsh language post-16 provision, and again I look at Neath Port Talbot: one Welsh language sixth form, situated right at the top of the Swansea valley, miles from the main areas of population. I think you’d have to be pretty dedicated to get there if you live in somewhere like Port Talbot, and support for travel is not particularly well guaranteed. The tertiary colleges are nowhere yet ready for providing an immersive Welsh language environment. I think our green card could help the Welsh Government meet its target of a million Welsh speakers by not choking off supply to that sixth form, by not making cost a reason for a young person to choose a college that may be nearer, and by not making it easier to leave your Welsh behind.

My third point is about the view that young people have of themselves, and I think this is pretty important. David Melding started to talk about it in the last debate, actually. I think it goes without saying that the population’s use of public transport, especially reduced diesel, will result in less air and noise pollution, as well as having less congestion on the roads. While many of our young people, especially those 16-year-olds that our green card would benefit—. Well, they don’t drive yet. So, encouraging them to use buses and trains more helps embed the idea that they don’t need to rely on expensive cars in the future. Congestion is just going to slow down their road journeys if they reach for the car keys anyway, so encouraging that public-transport-friendly population through the use of the green card works on two health levels, the first being about air quality with fewer cars, or fewer idling cars—it’s the same thing really.

But the second, and perhaps less obvious point is that in using public transport, you do end up walking and cycling more. Even if you have to walk to the end of your street to catch a bus, that’s further than walking to the car parked outside your house. In 2009, the World Health Organization found that one of the best ways of encouraging greater physical activity generally was through transport policy, and the Welsh Conservatives’ green card feeds into this in a really obvious way, because public transport journeys will require some footfall or cycling travel, at least one end of that journey. Countries where the population make a higher proportion of trips by walking, cycling or public transport—I’m sure we’ve heard this before—have lower rates of obesity. And also—although this may not actually be the strongest argument in Wales, I suspect—sunlight exposes us to vitamin D, which, in turn, leads to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

And then, just to finish, on the area of health, but more importantly wider well-being, it does matter how young people become confident and how they don’t limit their own horizons. Young people currently have to buy a railcard to get cheaper travel, or they perhaps get a deal when they go to university when they open a student bank account. I just did a quick ask around locally before this debate, last week, and found that Swansea students don’t just use their cards to go home. They take some chances to go places and make contacts, which lead to work opportunities, new networks, trips that some of them would not have considered without the discount. University College London also found that discounted travel cards were not always taken up because even a one-off payment can be unaffordable at that time. So, that’s one small barrier closing off all that opportunity for those already best placed to take it. I think all our people need that opportunity—not just students—and our free green card makes it just that bit easier to seize that opportunity.