5. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Swansea Bay city region deal? OAQ52203

Yes. Progress continues to be made towards the next stage of delivery and to unlock UK Government funding.

Thank you. A groundhog day question, I know.

The shadow board of the Swansea bay city deal told us that they would, if it were possible, like to add to the 11 projects that are already part of the deal, and, of course, many of us have been speaking about transport potentially being an additional aspect of it. Two weeks ago, your economy Secretary said that work on a Swansea parkway should be taken forward 'at pace', just to quote him. And with that in mind, what discussions are you holding with the Wales Office and the Department for Transport about this idea? And can you tell us whether it's been discussed in the context of the city deal or more generally as part of the wider vision for transport improvement in Wales, or maybe both? Thank you.

I know the idea—the idea has been around for some time for a station at Morriston, effectively: Swansea parkway, as I understand it. There are issues, because it would mean upgrading the Swansea district line, and it would bypass Swansea itself, and also bypass Neath. And I know that people in Neath do not want to see their station bypassed in that way and I can well understand why it is not Government policy that we would want to do that. So, there would be a need to upgrade the Swansea district line, because at the moment it's a freight line and is used for occasional passenger diversions. There would also be a need to ensure that services were not lost to existing stations, particularly inter-city services—not just inter-city services, but all services—if that proposal was taken forward. So, an interesting idea, but there are some negative potential effects, unless any services on the Swansea district line were in addition to the services that already exist, serving stations such as Swansea high street itself and Neath.