Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:05 pm on 27 February 2018.
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.