6. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport: Active Travel Integrated Network Maps

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:33 pm on 27 February 2018.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 5:33, 27 February 2018

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.