9. Will the First Minister make a statement on preparatory work for the process of awarding the Wales and Borders franchise? OAQ51291

May I refer the Member to the further statement issued by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport on 6 November regarding the Wales and borders rail service procurement?

I thank the First Minister. I have read that statement, of course, which was released as a result of the fact that Arriva Trains Wales had withdrawn from the franchise process. Now, reading between the lines and the reports around that, that turns around the fact that Arriva had decided that there was no commercial value now in that franchise, including, of course, the metro and building upon the metro. That, in turn, reflects the fact that there is still reliance on the subsidy from Westminster, and the responsibility being transferred onto Westminster, because this process hasn’t yet been completed by your Government. So, what can you tell us today that can give passengers in Wales an assurance, as well as the staff of Arriva Trains Wales, that those jobs will remain in place, that the services will remain in place and that there won’t be any problems in providing this franchise as you have pledged?

First of all, of course, there are issues to be discussed with the Department of Transport in London. There is no big problem, as far as I know, with regard to proceeding with the process. It's not unusual for a company to withdraw, and, of course, we know that there are companies that are still part of that process.

May I say that what we would have preferred to see is a situation where the finance and the funding would have been transferred, and that we could then direct Network Rail—but, of course, that hasn't been given to us—and that we would be given an opportunity to run the franchise as an arm's-length body in the public sector, which is something that has been made available to Scotland but has not been gifted to us, and we are completely angry about that? So, there is no reason now why this should not proceed, and, of course, it's something we want to ensure in order to see a better service for the people of Wales.

First Minister, you're quite right to say that the decision of Arriva to drop out of the bidding process and the franchise process does happen. We shouldn't get too worked up about a bidder deciding that it's not for them. At what point, however, did you know that they were dropping out? Was it sudden? Did they give advance warning? I'm wondering: did the Welsh Government receive any feedback from the company and the staff involved that would be beneficial now, moving forward with the rest of the process? Because, clearly, if other franchised businesses were to drop out as well, then we could end up in quite a tricky situation down the line, so to speak.

Could I write to the Member with the exact data on which Arriva Trains Wales notified Transport Wales on that basis? As I say, it's not uncommon for bidders for major projects to withdraw during the tender process. Arriva made clear that they've done this for their own commercial reasons, and I will share what I can with the Member in terms of information surrounding Arriva's decision. What I can—there will be some issues, obviously, that I can't disclose, I suspect for commercial reasons.

A few weeks ago, it became apparent that new trains of the Great Western Railway service, which serve south Wales, won't include any bilingual signage or announcements. As expected, there were a number of complaints made to the company by passengers, following this news, condemning the decision taken, including by the former Welsh language Minister, Alun Davies. Now, the company's excuse was that these trains serve areas of England as well as Wales, and therefore using bilingual signage and making bilingual announcements wouldn't be appropriate. Interestingly, some passengers in England have expressed support to having Welsh services in England, talking about their experiences of travelling from one country to another in Europe and hearing the language change regularly. Ensuring bilingual signage and announcements on trains is a matter of fundamental respect for the Welsh language. So, can you commit to ensuring that language standards will be introduced by the Government in the transport sector—standards that have been on the Government's desk for almost a year, unfortunately—and therefore that companies such as GWR would be able to provide services and the respect that Welsh speakers deserve?

May I ask the Minister, therefore, to write to you about this issue?FootnoteLink They're able to offer the service now, of course. It seems that the story has been told in a way that suggests that this isn't possible at present, but it would of course be possible, and they should, in my view. Arriva have used the Welsh language on their trains although their trains travel through England; they don't physically change the language on the signage as they travel through England. So, there is no reason whatsoever why Great Western Railway shouldn't use both Welsh and English. I think that it's right to say that people would respect the fact that both languages are used, and that people in England would be very interested to see it.

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