Thank you, Presiding Officer. I move the motion in the name of Paul Davies. I'll also say that we will not be supporting the Government's 'delete all' amendment, but will be supporting amendment 2 from Plaid Cymru. I'm currently minded to abstain on Plaid Cymru's amendment 3, but look forward to hearing from the Plaid Cymru spokesperson and the Cabinet Secretary on that particular issue.

I suspect that it's difficult for anyone in this Chamber to disagree that congestion is tightening its grip on Welsh roads and also tightening its grip, of course, on the Welsh economy. The practical economic impact of Wales's inadequate transport network is acute. It costs Welsh drivers £1.5 billion, with the economic cost per driver in Cardiff alone almost £1,000 a year. A worldwide study by INRIX estimated that it costs £134 million a year to the Cardiff economy and a further combined amount of £130 million a year to the local economies of Swansea, Newport, and Bridgend.  

The impact is also keenly felt in mid and north Wales, and you don't need me, I think, to talk about the impact on the economy of Newtown in my own constituency. Members who have been here since 2011 won't need me to say any more about the problems that I've reiterated in Newtown—something that I hope the Newtown bypass will resolve soon and transform the economic prospects of the towns of Newtown, Llanidloes, Machynlleth and other towns to the west of Wales.

But, with the exception of the Newtown bypass, which I'm pleased to say does seem to be relatively on schedule, there doesn’t seem to be any other significant Welsh Government transport project running on time and within budget. Of course, I'm open and willing to be corrected on that. But, as a result of that, we are calling on the Welsh Government to make road infrastructure a top priority in 2018. The crisis demands innovation and action, and without that, motorists will continue to face disruption on a daily basis.

Last month, we saw yet another 18-month delay to plans for an M4 relief road—disastrous, I think, for the development of the Welsh economy, especially given the expected increase in traffic in south-east Wales as a result of the UK Government's welcome decision to scrap tolls on the Severn bridge. The delay means that the proposed M4 relief road will now cost an extra £135 million, and follows other news that the proposed upgrades to the Heads of the Valleys road and the Pwll-y-Pant roundabout near Caerphilly are also over budget and facing extreme delays. This means that Welsh taxpayers now face a combined bill of almost £200 million, money that could have been better spent on other schemes all over Wales. 

Now, turning to north Wales, where cross-border movement is another fact of life, of course, there's clearly a necessity for improved connectivity between north Wales and the emerging Northern Powerhouse in northern England. Improvements to the transport infrastructure surrounding the A55 corridor and the Menai crossings is of course absolutely critical. Our transport infrastructure needs, I think, to facilitate a fluid cross-border movement of people and goods to ensure that communities can connect with the industry and invest in opportunities that will in turn, of course, boost the economy and productivity of mid and north Wales.

The transport network in northern England is currently benefitting from a series of UK Government investments, and these investments in the English transport network will have considerable knock-on benefits for people living in north Wales. But if the Welsh Government fails to engage effectively with the UK Government, then these developments may not fully take into account Wales's needs. Therefore, we are calling on the Welsh Government to go further in building a stronger working relationship with the UK Government to find innovative ways of funding future road projects and follow the UK Government's lead in using funding streams to allow for targeting of specific improvements to the Welsh road network.

Congestion on our roads also has a massive impact on the public transport sector. Not only is overcrowding an issue on our train networks, but the Assembly will be aware that the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee recently held an inquiry on the impact of congestion on the bus industry in Wales. It found that congestion on bus trips made things unpredictable, increased operational costs and fares, undermines passenger confidence, and reinforces negative perceptions of the bus. To quote from our report, Professor David Begg said that

'Traffic congestion is a disease which if left unchecked will destroy the bus sector.'

The report set out a principal recommendation that, as a matter of urgency, the Welsh Government should develop and publish an action plan to set out how it will tackle impacts of traffic congestion on the bus industry in Wales. But of course we're yet to see the fruits from that action plan and any improvements on the issue of congestion on our roads.

As I've said previously in this Chamber, public sector transport is caught in a catch-22 situation. For congestion to be reduced, people need to be encouraged out of their cars to make the switch to public transport, but whilst congestion is still having such a significant impact on public transport it's unlikely to be an attractive option. So it's therefore absolutely essential, of course, that the Welsh Government provides a clear direction on the action needed to tackle congestion and create the right environment for the benefits of public transport so that it outweighs the negative perceptions.

In its amendment the Government trumpets the national transport finance plan whilst cutting funding for both economic and transport development policies by £93 million. So, there is an incoherence here between 'Prosperity for All', the 2018 budget and the economic action plan, which has meant that vital transport projects are not provided with the corresponding level of financial backing in the 2018 budget.

Presiding Officer, I think it's time now for the Welsh Government to take this seriously, step up to the plate and finally invest in Welsh infrastructure to urgently address the current state of the Welsh road network and ensure that it's fit for the future and gets Wales moving again. I look forward to Members' contributions this afternoon.