Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 27 February 2018.
I think the whole situation with bus transport is a fraught one. We are indeed spending an enormous amount of money on bus transport right across Wales, not just in the north of the country. Once we have the bus regulation powers devolved to Wales, we will have to have, I think, a fundamental look at how we use that subsidy money, including both revenue and capital subsidies, because I think all of us in this Chamber have problems with bus services in our area and there are some significant difficulties around the planning of the routes and the preponderance of routes where, for example, concessionary travel passes are unavailable and so on. So, I actually completely agree with the Member that a fundamental look needs to be had but I think we need to look at the point in time when we have the power to regulate, so that we have a bit more leverage in terms of some of the routes that we would like to see. I'm not familiar with the specific routes in his area but I can assure you that, in my area, I have many of the same difficulties. We will certainly be looking at it again.