6. How much additional funding is required to cover the costs of the M4 relief road? OAQ51757

Llywydd, no additional funding will be required for the budget period in which capital plans have been set out, and no money will be allocated until the outcome of the local public inquiry.

The Cardiff capital region has laid out in ‘Powering the Welsh Economy’ that an integrated transport system aligned with land-use planning could be a catalyst for economic change across the region.

‘At the heart of this aspiration is the Metro vision for a modern high quality multimodal, integrated public transport network; offering rapid, frequent and reliable services; linking communities together and supporting economic development; to create a dynamic, sustainable and liveable city region.’

I quote that because there is absolutely no mention of the M4 relief road contributing to that vision. My concerns are that, with the continual rising estimate of the cost of the M4 relief road, were it to go ahead, how much of the Welsh Government’s overall capital borrowing limit would be gobbled up by this project? And what, if anything, would be left for developing the metro?

Well, Llywydd, I don’t, myself, find it surprising that the M4 relief road is not referred to in the Cardiff capital deal document, because funding the metro is actually a specific and major component of that deal, and the funding that underpins it is already set aside for metro development.

Let me be clear on the position as far as capital borrowing is concerned. The Welsh Government was offered early access to borrowing, with that borrowing predicated on it being available for the M4. In the event, as I explained to the Finance Committee this morning, I’ve not needed to use borrowing for capital costs for the M4. In this financial year, I’ve been able to cover them using conventional capital. All of that was overtaken by the fiscal framework, which was signed in December 2016. The Welsh Government will be able to borrow £125 million in 2018-19, and that will rise to £150 million thereafter, up to a total of £1 billion. But that borrowing is not hypothecated to the M4. Finance Secretaries at the time will need to take a decision on the balance to be struck between conventional capital and borrowing for the M4, should that go ahead, which is dependent, as we’ve said, on the outcome of the local public inquiry.

Cabinet Secretary, the traffic analytics firm INRIX estimates that the traffic jams on our roads last year cost the Welsh economy almost £278 million, which is a striking figure. Congestion cost Cardiff £134 million, Swansea £62 million, and Newport £44 million. Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm that this cost to the Welsh economy will be taken into account when deciding the future of the proposed M4 relief road in the Newport area? Thank you.

Making sure that there is transport infrastructure that allows people and business to be moved effectively across Wales is, of course, important to our future, and that's at the heart of the public inquiry. Does the answer always have to be building more roads? Well, of course it doesn't have to be. That's why we are investing in the metro, to which Jenny Rathbone made reference. So, the issue, of course, is one that we recognise. The solutions to it will be many and various.