Item 6 on the agenda this afternoon is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport on active travel integrated network maps, and I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to make the statement. Ken Skates.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I welcome this opportunity today to update Members on a major milestone in the implementation of our Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013. Following the submission and approval of the maps showing the existing active travel routes in 2016, local authorities in Wales have submitted the maps showing their plans for integrated active travel networks last November and these have now been fully assessed.    

The active travel Act requires local authorities to submit an integrated network map within three years of the Act coming into force. The then Minister for Social Services and Public Health extended the deadline for submission by six weeks to 3 November 2017 due to the local government elections and the potential difficulty to consult on the draft maps during the pre-election period.

Today, local authorities have received a decision on the submission of their integrated network maps. My officials provided regular support to authorities, including through workshops and advice notes. Most local authorities were fully engaged in the process and attended a variety of workshops that we held across Wales to assist them in the development of their integrated maps. We also commissioned a project that piloted elements of the integrated network map preparation process. The project, commissioned with Sustrans, worked with a number of local authorities through some of the key integrated network map stages and developed good practice and disseminated lessons that were learned. 

I'm pleased that 21 of the 22 local authorities submitted their maps on time. Monmouthshire County Council informed my officials on 5 September that they would not be able to meet the deadline. In October, a direction was issued to Monmouthshire County Council and they are now due to submit their integrated network maps tomorrow. 

All the integrated network maps submitted have been assessed against the requirements set out in the Act and the statutory guidance. As this first iteration of implementation of the Act is a learning process for all of us, I appointed Professor John Parkin at the University of the West of England as an independent validator. He was asked to look at the appraisal outcomes to ensure that they are consistent and reasonable and to help reach a sound decision. I was impressed with the commitment local authorities have shown across Wales and with the standard of the majority of submissions.

Maybe inevitably in this first cycle, a range of approaches has been taken by authorities in the development of these maps, and there is a great degree of variation in the levels of ambition expressed in these maps. On the basis of the appraisal carried out by my officials and Professor Parkin's assessment, I have come to the following decisions: I am pleased to be able to approve the submissions from 14 local authorities outright, because they have shown that their proposals are based on meaningful engagement and form a credible first-stage integrated network map. There is another group of submissions that fall a little short of our expectations, either in the way in which communities were engaged and consulted in the process, or in the coherence of their planned networks. For these, I've decided to approve the maps on this occasion, together with clear recommendations for addressing these weaknesses.

I am disappointed that submissions from four local authorities are unsuitable for approval in their current form because these local authorities either failed to consult effectively on their proposals or because they do not propose meaningful active travel networks, and, in some cases, their submission was falling short in both. To those local authorities, I will be issuing a direction to resubmit their proposals by 27 August this year. We will support them continually throughout this period. The independent validator provided specific recommendations of areas that should be addressed, and my officials will work with the local authorities affected to ensure swift progress. We are also making recommendations to other authorities highlighting areas for improvement. These first integrated network maps are the starting point; I expect local authorities to continue to work and refine these network maps in dialogue with their communities. This way, when they have to submit again in three years' time, this will be a much simpler process. 

Now that we have the first integrated network maps for the majority of places in Wales in place, we have a sound foundation to make these walking and cycling networks a reality and to get more people walking and cycling in Wales. I have now received the bids for the next round of local transport grants, many of which will be active travel schemes, and I'll be announcing which schemes will be funded next month. I'll continue to look to supplement this funding in-year whenever the opportunity to access additional capital arises, as I have done this year. I allocated additional capital funding of over £8 million for schemes benefiting active travel for 2017-18 to boost existing schemes and fund additional projects. I also commissioned a broader review of how we fund active travel and to look ahead to future requirements. It is my intention to boost the amount that we fund active travel and that we make available centrally for infrastructure significantly, and I'll share more detail on this with you shortly.

The integrated maps represent a great opportunity for joined-up planning. I urge local authorities and other bodies to ensure that other plans and programmes take account of them and, importantly, to use them proactively to secure funding from a range of other sources. When we succeed in creating these networks, and when they are well used, we all stand to benefit from better health and reduced healthcare costs, from reduced congestion, reduced air pollution and emissions, and, overall, from better places. Achieving this is a shared opportunity and responsibility for us all in Wales.

I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement this afternoon. Cabinet Secretary, do you feel that the lack of any financial and human resource is one of the reasons why eight local authorities did fall below your expectations? There is also some concern from the cross-party group on active travel that the implementation of legislation has been process heavy, meaning that the development of routes has been delayed and vital time has been lost. I'd be grateful for your views on that.

It does seem that, without adequate funding, local authorities will be unable to properly implement priority schemes identified in their integrated network maps, so do you recognise the concerns expressed by some local authorities that funding in Wales for active travel has historically fallen far short of what is needed to implement the active travel Act? Can I ask what considerations you've given to a distinct active travel budget with a multi-year funding settlement, as well?

So, turning to some outcomes in Wales, the recent data shows that outcomes are actually worsening, with a third of people not engaged in any activity at all, and there's been no improvement in overall numbers of people walking and cycling. So, the latest data makes it clear that progress on encouraging active travel in Wales is slipping and that one of the reasons for this, according to Sustrans Cymru's Bike Life safety study, is the need for better safety in order to get people on their bikes. Developing safe active travel infrastructure has, of course, the potential to significantly reduce congestion on our roads and help deliver public health outcomes that we would like to see. So, can I ask what you are doing to improve road safety in order to promote active travel and how do you respond to safety concerns that have been expressed by Sustrans Cymru, Cycling UK and Ramblers Cymru regarding the Welsh Government's plans for the A487 in Caernarfon, which they say would worsen safety and does not adequately cater for walking and cycling?

Finally, can I ask you, Cabinet Secretary, to consider taking personal ownership of the active travel agenda to ensure that it does have cross-departmental attention? Many of the places around the UK and Europe that have made significant progress in promoting active travel have had Ministers or mayors that seem to have personally led this agenda. I look to Andy Street, the mayor of the west midlands, as a good example of this. So, in this regard, what do you intend to do to work with your Cabinet colleagues to increase the levels of active travel programmes in schools and workplaces to support behavioural change so that schools and employees can drive the change that is needed for people to embrace active travel?

Can I thank Russell George for his questions? I think much of what he's offered today shows that there is a need to significantly improve behaviours in Wales, and also across the UK for that matter, in terms of active travel and the choices that we make when moving from A to B. There have been instances where individuals have taken personal leadership and charge of active travel agendas, and there have been great outcomes as a consequence. The Member identified the mayor of the west midlands as one particular case. But then, if we compare the assertion that one person can take direct control with the consideration of having a single budget and, perhaps, suggest that having budgets available from across Government would make it far easier to ensure that you get cross-Government buy-in, that doesn't mean that you don't have single leadership of an agenda, and, certainly, I wish to see the amount of resource allocated for active travel to be significantly improved. But that increase in funding shouldn't just come, in my view, from within one departmental budget. So, whilst I accept that there should be strong leadership on this particular agenda from myself, I also believe that having a distinct fund for active travel may not actually get the sort of cross-Government buy-in that we require. It is, however, something that is being considered as a consequence of the review into the funding of active travel that I commissioned.

In terms of the multi-year funding of active travel, well, we've outlined in the economic action plan how we'll be moving to five-year cycles for funding, and I think that could have great benefits for active travel. Certainly, it would be my intention to utilise some of the funding savings that can be made from multi-year budgets for the purpose of improving the infrastructure that supports active travel.

In terms of where the concern over a potential lack of financial and human resource at a local government level is concerned, we did make available £700,000 for local authorities to prepare their maps. It's worth noting that one of those local authorities—at least one of those local authorities—that has not yet had the maps approved decided not to utilise that resource that was made available. But in addition to the financial resource, officials from within Welsh Government have been working with local authorities across Wales in ensuring that there is the expertise and that there are the skills available and the experience to hand in order to produce maps.

We're already allocating £5 million to work up shovel-ready schemes across Wales. As we move into future years, I expect the proportion of capital that is made available from the overall transport budget to increase for active travel. We've seen an increase from about 3 per cent to 6 per cent in the last 10 years in terms of the proportion of funding available for active travel from within the transport budget, but I would like to see that proportion increased still further, so that we can have a pipeline of projects that are fundable, that can be delivered, based on the initial £5 million of identified schemes, or the schemes that are identified through the £5 million of funding.

In terms of safety, one of the most inhibiting factors that prevents many people from travelling to work or travelling to school or travelling to services by foot or on a bike is the fear of fast-moving traffic. Twenty-miles-per-hour zones have proven to be very successful around schools. These are available for local authorities to develop if they so wish. It's certainly something that we have encouraged. But in order to really have the change, to really see the behavioural change that I think all Members in this Chamber would wish to see, we have to ensure that the next generation of responsible adults see active travel as a priority means of moving from one point to another.

The data that's highlighted by the Member does regrettably show a decrease in the number of adults that are walking regularly once a week in Wales. Likewise, there is a worrying decline in the number of young people who are walking. What we have noticed is that in terms of young people, it appears that parental concern over safety is a major factor, because the percentage walking with an adult actually appears to be quite stable if not rising, whereas there is a reduction in the number of young people who are walking either with friends or by themselves. So, there is certainly, it appears, a concern over safety—whether it be road safety or whether it be safety insofar as children being allowed out without their parents is concerned. This requires attention, I think, within the school estate, and I'm certainly doing work to look at whether school closures, consolidating the school estate, has had an impact on this data.

In addition, we've developed a toolkit for school routes, and this work has enabled schools to be able to assess and audit the walking routes that young people take to school. This is something that is an ongoing piece of work, but it will contribute, I think, to changing perceptions of active travel and to encourage young people to take up bikes or to take up walking, particularly to go to and from school. The actual data that concerns primary and secondary schools where children live within a 10-minute walk is very impressive. Something in the region of 84 per cent of children at primary school level access their schools by foot if they're within a 10-minute walk of the primary school, and that constitutes around about 31 per cent of all young people. At high school, the figure is even higher—it's 96 per cent. So, what we need to do is actually get more of those who live a little further away to take up cycling or walking. The data—. Sorry to go on about the data, Deputy Presiding Officer, but the data also indicates that insofar as adults are concerned, those adults who were walking or cycling some years ago, or in recent years, are probably walking even more now. The problem is that those who have not been walking are still not walking, and for that reason we have to ensure that the maps that are developed and the networks that are built are suitable for the needs of people in communities right across the length and breadth of Wales.

Thank you. The reason I was urging you on is that we have a number of speakers. We're almost half way and we've only had one speaker. Dai Lloyd.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I welcome the statement from the Cabinet Secretary? Obviously, from a public health point of view, it is vital to tackle this agenda. It's vital to tackle the obesity agenda inherent in active travel and encourage the total physical fitness agenda in general, because all the stats show, from a medical point of view, that if you are physically fit as an individual, as I've said before in this Chamber, your blood pressure is 30 per cent lower than if you're physically unfit, your blood sugar is 30 per cent lower than if you're physically unfit, and your cholesterol is also 30 per cent lower than if you're physically unfit. Now, if we'd invented a tablet or a drug that would have that dramatic effect on those indices—because we haven't yet—it would be a totally transformative drug, and there would be a clamour for NICE to approve it tomorrow. No such drug exists, but physical fitness exists. So, I would suggest, in your hunt for some additional funding, that actually having close consultations with the Cabinet Secretary for health would be of benefit because we are talking a huge agenda here, which needs to be grasped, obviously.

So, I do welcome your statement, and obviously welcome the vision of the active travel legislation of which this statement on active travel integrated network maps today forms an integral part. But, obviously, this active travel vision requires a step change in behaviour, as you've already alluded to, Cabinet Secretary, and obviously, that step change in behaviour is a challenge to us all, personally, as well as being a challenge to government, both national and local. Because there remains justifiably a real fear of road traffic—a fear of the danger of cars and lorries—and a very real situation in terms of accidents, particularly involving cyclists. Allaying that fear requires, I think, proven spending on safety and keeping cyclists and pedestrians safe so that we can prove to people that it is safe, and keeping them apart from cars and lorries. Now, that can't happen overnight, I appreciate, but that is the idea. Those ideas need to be transformative, as much as our thoughts on behavioural change need to be transformative, and spending, I would contend, needs to be transformative too.

Now, obviously, you've mentioned your intention to boost funding, which is very welcome, but as we know, spending per head on active travel is around £5 per head per year in Wales. Scottish Government spending on active travel is £16 per head per year. Dutch and Danish cycling utopias spend around £30 per head per year. So, I'm not saying we jump to that tomorrow, but that's the transformative change that we are looking for. Presumably, spending challenges informed the local authorities that have responded in their integrated network maps and, obviously, as you alluded to, not all of which have met with your approval, but obviously local authorities, like everybody else in this age of austerity, are under tremendous funding pressures.

So, basically, can you just detail how much additional funding you will be searching for, or can be made available for active travel legislation so that we can truly see the transformation that needs to happen? Diolch yn fawr.

Can I thank Dai Lloyd for his questions? I'd agree entirely with him that active travel can play a crucial role in reducing incidences of obesity and other physical illnesses, but it can also assist in improving our well-being, and certainly our mental health. I, for sure, benefit from regularly walking, cycling and running, particularly when I'm down here in Cardiff Bay, after or before work. I find that I perform much better if I've had a run after work or in the early morning than if I'm sedentary for most of the day. I think all of us in the Chamber probably have a role to play in leading by example and trying to be more physically active more of the time. I know that time is very precious, but it's absolutely essential in modern life to be able to carve out sufficient time for you to be physically active. It's absolutely crucial for your physical health, mental health and well-being.

In terms of the importance of other colleagues in Government and other departments, I think in particular education and health are crucial in challenging and changing behaviours of people in order to get more people physically active, not just in terms of physical activity, but generally to be more active, to be doing more, to be more physical more of the time. Certainly through forums such as the active travel board we are able to call on officials across departments for updates from their respective Cabinet Secretaries on the actions that are being taken to deliver on the spirit of the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013. I think fear, as Russell George has already said, is a critical factor preventing or dissuading people from being active in their travel. It used to be that fear of missing out, or 'FOMO', as it's now called amongst young people, led them to walk home or walk to school, because they feared missing out being with friends. Now, I'm afraid, FOMO leads many young people to demand that they get picked up in order to get back home in order to get on social media quicker, or onto the computer system. Unfortunately, that has become a cultural norm. That has to be challenged in schools, and that's something that I know that many schools are already doing. We have some great champions within the education service as well, and I think we need to ensure that more people get the sort of support that certainly I had, and many other people had, in terms of cycling proficiency.

There was a great book written by Anthony Seldon a few years ago entitled Trust, in which he painted quite a dark picture of modern life where we are constantly bombarded with fearful images, with negative images, that lead to dissipation of our trust in one another. I think as a consequence people believe that they are less safe than they actually are, they are less likely to trust other people in society, as they would have done in years gone by, and that's most unfortunate. What we need to do is encourage people to actually be more trusting and to be realistic about the threats on our road system and our cycleways and on our pavements.

In terms of the spend per head, there is no need to convince me whatsoever that we need to see a significant increase in the amount of resource that is allocated to support active travel. I'd like to get my Boardman bike used more often. I'd like to be more active in walking, and although I wouldn't wish to put a figure right now on the amounts that I'd like to increase active travel spend by, I would like to see it brought up, in terms of pounds per head of population, to the Scottish level. I think that would be an aspiration. I think if, essentially, one day we could reach the cycling utopia levels of some of the continental countries then that would be fantastic, but certainly, in the first instance, we need to aspire to be increasing to that sort of level that we've seen in Scotland. But I think we also need to be realistic about where we identify the funding. It can't just come from one pot within one department within the Government. It has to come from a range of departments and not just, indeed, from within Welsh Government. There has to be a contribution, in my view, from local government as well, and many, many councils across Wales have been incredibly responsible and proactive in this agenda.

It's good that you now have all these plans from local authorities, but I hope we're now going to see some action at pace. As Dai Lloyd's already said, there is a huge public health benefit from this and we have to take heart from people like Professor Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser to the UK Government, who warns that air pollution is more harmful to children in cars than those walking on the street. This is a message that we somehow have to get across to parents—that actually they're putting their children at risk more by taking them to school in the car than they are by walking with them or encouraging them to walk on their own or with their friends. 

In my day, I used to have to wait around the corner to pick my kids up from secondary school, if I had to pick them up to take them somewhere after school, because it was simply not cool to be seen with your parents. At what point are we going to stop taking our kids to school? Are we going to be taking them to work? Somehow, the infantilisation of young people—they could be operating independently and deciding which route they're going to take home and which child they're going to walk home with et cetera. So, we really, really do have to labour this point: it is nine to 12 times higher—the pollution inside the car than outside it. In a place like Cardiff, that is very significant because Cardiff has such high levels of air pollution. We know that the Welsh Government has admitted that our current plans for resolving this are illegal. I wonder what consideration you've given to implementing a clear air zone for Cardiff, because we really do need to move forward at pace. 

I'm very interested in the fact that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says that off-road cycle routes are very good value for money with every £1 invested returning £14 in benefits. Investing in walking infrastructure has a £37 return for every £1 invested—no doubt, referring back to some of the statistics that Dr Dai Lloyd has given us.

If you're in search of money for implementing these excellent schemes, I wondered whether you might consider the additional funding that could be raised by having a levy on city-centre car parking, because in Cardiff alone I have estimated that a 100 per cent levy on a two-hour charge on all the city centre parking could raise £1 billion. You could introduce an awful lot of walking and cycling routes with that sort of money. So, I'd be very interested to know what consideration you've given to this sort of thing, because we have the roads already—we don't need to build more roads, we just need to use them for different purposes. We need to use dedicated routes for walking and cycling. 

Lastly, I wondered if you could just tell us, for those submissions that fell short of your expectations, which you nevertheless decided to approve with recommendations for addressing weaknesses, what action you are going to be taking to ensure that those weaknesses are addressed.

Can I thank Jenny for her questions and for highlighting a most pressing problem, particularly in urban areas, which is the existence of carbon canyons, in many respects, that are polluting the lungs of commuters, and in particular young people? The irony, of course, is that within those more intensely urbanised areas young people can most easily access places of education on foot. What's preventing them from doing that is either parental fear or their own fear of not being safe on the roads or on pavements, or indeed, I'm afraid, a lack of desire to actually be physically active. 

It used to be, certainly when I was in school, that it was cool to cycle to school. I'm not sure whether that's still the case today. It seems to be that it's often cool to be picked up, to have a chauffeur. Again, it's absolutely crucial that, within the school estate, they check these behaviours and that practices are challenged and changed. I do think that there is a role for education practitioners to take up in leading that sort of cultural change.

Money I don't think should be raised just by Welsh Government for these purposes. I stated just previously that I think it's absolutely essential that local authorities also play a role in increasing the amount of resource that can be made available for active travel. I think it's a really interesting suggestion that you've made about having a levy on car parking. The Welsh Government doesn't have a monopoly on ideas and what we're looking for from local authorities as partners, working individually or together, is good ideas that will challenge and also deliver game-changing proposals that will increase levels of physical activity and bring about a healthier nation. I think that the idea of a levy is certainly one that's worth further consideration. 

I think Jenny has been very consistent over many years in championing active travel, and I'd like to put on record my thanks to her for ensuring that I, personally, am fully accountable for the level of spend and the commitment that the Welsh Government shows to active travel. Again, I can give my commitment to Jenny that in future budgets I will be seeking a significant increase in the amount of funding that's available for active travel projects.

I'm afraid, coming a little late in a debate, that sometimes many of the points that I wish to make have already been made, Cabinet Secretary. I thank you, obviously, for your statement, and please forgive me if I do reiterate some of the points that have already been made this evening.

The measurement of any programme can be challenging. We see with many plans that the focus is often on activities surrounding their implementation, rather than their outcomes. What is the Cabinet Secretary putting in place in order to monitor the effectiveness of your active travel programme?

It has been stated that funding was set at £5 per head of population. We've already talked about funding, but it has been mooted that it's probably nearer £3. Could the Cabinet Secretary update us on figures that are more current than that? You mentioned the Scottish figure, but you didn't actually give us that figure, so could you do that as well?

The active travel Act puts Wales at the forefront of action to promote walking and cycling, for which it received international recognition. However, the sight of ranks of buses and cars outside schools, often engaged in travelling quite short distances, shows how deep the problem is in effecting a modal shift in people's attitudes. Does the Cabinet Secretary share with me the belief that there should be a concerted effort within schools to convert our young people to a greater use of the bicycle and walking for school access?

The last point I wish to raise with the Cabinet Secretary is the seeming lack of ambition by local authorities with regard to their integrated travel maps. This has been identified by no less an authority than the Welsh Local Government Association, who believe that this is due to local authorities' fears of a lack of funding for the active travel infrastructure that they envisage. Could the Cabinet Secretary make a comment on this observation? Thank you.

Can I thank David Rowlands for his questions and actually touch on a point that I should have dealt with that was raised by Jenny Rathbone, which concerns the funding that's available for schemes that are being developed? That £5 million that I talked of earlier is being allocated for the purpose of bringing schemes to the point of construction. The reason that I want to see a significant increase in the available resource for those projects is because that £5 million-worth of funding is likely to result in a significant number of projects that will require capital resource. If we are to ensure that, if you like, the vision doesn't just remain a dream, but that the action turns it into reality, we're going to have to back it up with significant resource. That's why I'm pressing hard the point that I will be searching for a significant increase in the amount of capital investment that goes into active travel.

The Member raised the figure of £16 per head in Scotland. The overall sum that is spent in Scotland—it has increased significantly recently—is £80 million. Here in Wales, I was pleased to be able to allocate an additional £8 million within the current financial year for active travel, which resulted in a figure within my department itself of £23 million. That equates to more than £7 per head of population in Wales, but it doesn't reflect some of the additional spend that has gone into schemes that have encouraged modal shift. It's far more difficult to be able to identify all of the spending, all of the investment, when you don't have a single active travel budget. Nonetheless, I wish to see within my department a significant increase in the capital available for schemes able to be delivered in future years.

I think that the variation in the quality of submissions from local authorities demonstrates that the challenge for councils across Wales has not been primarily one of financial resource, but of a willingness and a belief in this agenda—a willingness to work hard to deliver excellent integrated network maps and to contribute to this agenda meaningfully, often with a financial resource. There are exemplar councils in Wales in this regard, and I wish to see all councils perform extraordinarily well in the years to come.

For that reason, we are monitoring the progress of those three local authorities that we've approved the network maps for. We're going to be monitoring the implementation of the recommendations that Jenny Rathbone asked about, and we're going to be monitoring the roll-out of projects and programmes across all 22 local authorities. This is an initial phase. Further maps will be submitted in three years' time. We'll be assessing in terms of data and uptake of those routes that are captured within the maps. We'll be assessing the effectiveness of them. We'll be looking at the projects that are delivered as part of the mapping exercise, and working to make sure that we work with partners in Sustrans and across local government and other third sector organisations to increase the availability of active travel. 

I think, again, the Member highlighted the role that education can play in this regard. If we can change the behaviour of children, we will also, in all probability, change the behaviour of their parents, as was the case with recycling. The increase in recycling rates has largely been down to young people driving this agenda, influencing and inspiring their parents and older generations. 

In terms of air quality, which, again, was raised by Jenny Rathbone, I know Members around the Chamber are very concerned with this issue in terms of air quality. This is a matter that the Minister for Environment, my colleague Hannah Blythyn, leads on, but we have a ministerial task group that meets regularly to discuss decarbonisation, and air quality of course is a key concern that we have within that group.  

Thank you. Lee Waters. 

Thank you. Minister, on Monday research revealed that levels of diabetes are set to double in the next 20 years, and type 2 diabetes, in particular, linked to physical inactivity. Research yesterday shows that 70 per cent of people born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s are going to be overweight before they reach middle age. This is a public health measure being delivered by a transport department, and transport departments across the country without the skills, capacity or culture to fully grasp the opportunities of this agenda.

I welcome very much what you've said about the intention to significantly increase the investment, but we have been hearing of intentions in this Chamber, with respect, for a number of years now. You said that the first of these INMs are the starting point. This Act was passed in 2013. I started campaigning for it 11 years ago. You've described them as a solid foundation. They're exactly the same words that your predecessor, Edwina Hart, used in December 2015 when she described the existing route maps as 'putting in place the foundations'. We need to move beyond this at scale. We need to ramp it up big time. 

You said that there's a degree of variation in the levels of ambition from local authorities, which depend on the willingness and belief in this agenda. It shouldn't rely on local authorities depending in this agenda. There is an Act of this Parliament that requires them to come forward with plans. There is design guidance that sets out very clearly the requirement for a basic network, and for a 15-year vision. I'm very pleased that you have sent the signal to four local authorities that what they've come up with isn't good enough, but I really do fear—and the cross-party group on active travel that I chair has brought together groups from all across Wales—and the evidence is consistent: there is a lethargy and a lack of ambition right across Wales and, on behalf of local authorities, genuine difficulties in terms of capacity and senior buy-in. That's why the drive needs to come from this Government. 

So, my question to you, Minister, is: you say you're going to be reviewing the active travel guidance, so what are the Welsh Government going to be doing to enforce it? That's the key point. Yes, we need the investment, and yes, we need cross-departmental buy-in, but we also need a lead from the top. This legislation is in place. It's our landmark Act. We've now got to really show we believe in this and push it home because the public health of future generations depends upon it. 

Can I thank the Member for his questions? I'd say again, just to repeat, that the benefits of active travel are not just physical; they are also emotional and mental as well. Fifteen billion pounds is wiped out of the UK economy every year because people turn up at work unable to perform to the best of their ability because they're anxious or they're depressed, and this needs to be challenged. It can be challenged through getting more people physically active to improve their mental health and well-being. That's not the only answer, of course it's not, but it has a part to play.

I know that the Member has been, again, very helpful in holding us to account and has often, I'm sure as he would recognise as well, been very critical of the approach that Government has taken as far as transport is concerned. I would very much agree with him that enough is not enough and that whilst we do have this Act, I would urge all partners not just to meet the minimum requirements of the Act but to go an extra mile and to make sure that we do deliver the change in behaviour that is required in order to improve the health of Wales. As a consequence, for our part, we'll be looking at the requirements on Welsh Government, not just meeting them as a minimum standard but making sure that we can excel on them.

We can turn Welsh Government's activities and leadership into an exemplar in Europe, and I accept it will require some difficult decisions as well. I'm prepared to make those difficult decisions, but it will be important that all Members recognise that difficult decisions will carry criticism from some quarters, from some constituents, from some people who disagree with the active travel agenda. So, whilst I'm hearing across the Chamber today a call for more money to be invested in active travel, for stronger leadership to be made on active travel, I hope that, when the difficult decisions are made by me, my department and this Government, Members in this Chamber will also support them when the time comes rather than offer a megaphone to those critics outside of this Chamber who I'm sure will be quick to object to increases in spending on active travel.

I think it's also important to recognise that, yes, it's taken three years to come to this point, but those three years were outlined, they were built into the Act. Whilst I accept it's taken time, I do believe it is a starting point and that we do now have solid foundations. The key is in making sure that those foundations are not left without the infrastructure that is required to be built upon the foundations in order to get the behavioural change that I think everybody in this Chamber has been talking about. 

Thank you. I have three more speakers, so if they can just ask their questions and, Minister, if you can just respond to the one question that they're going to ask you, then we won't run that far over time. John Griffiths. 

Can I very much welcome the statement, Cabinet Secretary, and your commitment, which I think is very clear? Some of the answers you've given on funding, for example, I think are very welcome. You will have the support, I'm confident, across this Chamber, that you're looking for in terms of the difficult decisions around implementation. 

Could I just say that interest groups, I think, are very clear about the great potential of the legislation, Cabinet Secretary, but there is some frustration around implementation that has already been expressed. There's some concern as to whether local authorities are looking at commuter routes that cross local authority boundaries, for example, and joining up in that way, and concerns about the basic network for modal shift around things like the 20 mph speed limit that you mentioned. We need to make the local neighbourhoods friendly for walking and cycling to get to the new routes and join up in that way.

Can I ask you about behavioural change, Cabinet Secretary? We do need people to have the skills and confidence to make this shift to walking and cycling, and I do believe that schools and workplaces are key to that. As far as schools are concerned, Sustrans Cymru are doing some very good work, but they're only reaching 8 per cent of schools, even though it is effective work because we see a 9 per cent increase in active travel after one year of their work. Cycle training is—

You're really taking my patience. Come on, quickly. 

I will be very quick. It's all connected with behavioural change, Deputy Presiding Officer. 

Yes, we do need some behaviour changes in the Chamber. [Laughter.] Come on. Move on. 

So, I just ask about cycle training as well, and Cymru Travel Challenge has ended in terms of workplace behavioural change, Cabinet Secretary, with no replacement.

Can I assure the Member—and I'm pleased to be able to share this news with all Members actually—that I've recently agreed to extend the Active Journeys contract for another year up until July 2019 for the reasons that John Griffiths outlined? It's proven to be exceptionally successful in those schools that it's operated in. I think 88 per cent of respondents said that the number of pupils cycling to school had increased as a consequence of this programme, so I'm happy to extend it for a further year. 

Thank you. Vikki Howells.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I'd like to welcome your announcement today, particularly the boost in funding available centrally for infrastructure investment. During recess, I and my colleague Dawn Bowden had a wonderful day trip where we were actually allowed to go through the Abernant railway tunnel that links our two constituencies, and you'll recall that I raised a question with you on this just prior to recess and you spoke about the funding you've allocated to Merthyr council to look at developing the Abernant tunnel in particular. The main barrier, as other people have said, to more use of active travel is the perception of danger from traffic, so do you agree with me that the use of disused railway tunnels such as Abernant could overcome this significant barrier as well as significantly improve the east to west links in our northern valleys to complement the north-south links that will be improved with the metro? If the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 is to become more than a paper exercise, is it time for Welsh Government to act more boldly and invest in these railway tunnel infrastructures that we have on our doorsteps?

I think Vikki Howells makes a really valid, very important point that we shouldn't just view roads as the only infrastructure that people can use for cycling. I've noticed in my constituency that upgrading the Llangollen canal towpath has proven to be incredibly important for cyclists to be able to access places of work and to get to school in Llangollen. I think also tunnels can play a very important role, whereas in more urban areas I think it's essential that dedicated cycle routes and cycle highways are considered. So, wherever you are in Wales, there should be a bespoke solution that's developed by the local authority in conjunction with third sector partners. I'm sure that Sustrans would take a very keen interest in advising and supporting any local authority that wants to develop an innovative solution to the particular challenges that they face. I'm very pleased, in the case of Vikki Howells, to have been able to provide the local authority with the funding to take forward further work that could be required in order to convert that particular tunnel into a cycle way.

Finally, Julie Morgan.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In January, I organised in my constituency an event to encourage more people to take up everyday cycling, which was very well attended, and people had a chance to go for a short cycle ride from the Whitchurch rugby club, where we held the event, and it was very successful. We had representatives of Welsh Cycling to tell us about group social rides, which were very attractive, and rides for people who need to build up their cycling confidence. This event was held on the Taff trail, which obviously is fantastic for cycling, but many of the people there raised the issue of how they have to battle with the traffic to get to the Taff trail, and that is the point I want to raise with the Cabinet Secretary: how are we going to ensure that the cycle routes and the walking routes that are set up are linked up? I think that's one of the key issues.

Absolutely. I think the answer is through great ambition and determination and by showing strong leadership. It's certainly the case—if I can identify one example in London, where the development of the cycle highway over Westminster Bridge I think probably met with furious objections from some motorists, but actually it's proven to be hugely successful in getting more people to cycle to places of work. It's proven to be incredibly successful in improving, I think, cycling safety as well. So, perhaps that shows the way for other local authorities in Wales to operate—to be ambitious, to be bold and to be brave as well in the face of criticism whilst proposals are being worked up.

Thank you very much. We finally got there. Thank you.