1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on capital investment in South Wales Central? OAQ52360

I thank the Member for the question. Despite deep cuts to our conventional capital budget, the Welsh Government has ambitious plans for investment in South Wales Central, including development of the south Wales metro, the new Velindre Cancer Centre and 43 different projects being taken forward through the twenty-first century schools programme.

Thanks for the answer. The Minister will be aware of the project to reopen the Rhondda tunnel as a footpath and cycle path. Following a recent report by Balfour Beatty, there has been an assessment that 95 per cent of the tunnel is in a very good condition. Now, the Highways Agency is responsible for the safety of the tunnel but isn't allowed to reopen the tunnel. Would the Welsh Government now consider taking over ownership of the tunnel from the Highways Agency in order to progress the scheme?

I thank Gareth Bennett for that supplementary question. He is quite right. The Welsh Government has provided some funding through or budget agreement with Plaid Cymru to fund what's called the tapping survey of the Rhondda tunnel. Once we are able to consider the outcome of that survey—and he is also right to say that ownership of the tunnel is one of the next issues that we would need to consider—I look forward to discussing what might be possible next with members of Plaid Cymru as part of our budget considerations. 

Finance Minister, the Vale of Glamorgan Council are out to consultation at the moment on improving transport links to the M4 from the A48 through the village of Pendoylan. Are you in a position to inform us how this project would be paid for? Is it from the city deal, or would a bid have to come directly to you, or to the Welsh Government, I should say, to release capital moneys for the development of this road, because, at the moment, certainly from the representations I've had from residents, there is uncertainty as to exactly who picks up the bill for this improvement of transport links?

Llywydd, as far as I'm aware, the discussions are still at an early stage on the funding arrangements, should that project ever get the go-ahead. There are precedents in the Swansea city deal for ways in which investment can be shared between the Welsh Government and a city deal. I will make enquiries, however, and if there is more up-to-date information than I have with me, then I'll write to the Member to let him know. 

I welcome what you've just said about the Rhondda tunnel, Cabinet Secretary. I've got a vision of a fully accessible cycle track covering the whole of my constituency. At the moment, it's patchy, to say the least. And the vision includes linking up the Rhondda tunnel with the neighbouring valley, Blaengwynfi. Now, I'm soon to be meeting various interested parties from a cycling perspective to see what can be done to turn this vision into a reality. Minister, are you on board? Will you agree to progress this question of ownership of the Rhondda tunnel as a matter of urgency, and would you, in principle, be prepared to work with us in the Rhondda on turning this cycling vision into a reality?

I thank the Member for the question and for the very interesting information she's just provided. What I can say, Llywydd, is this: the future of the tunnel has featured in the last two years' worth of discussions that I conducted with Plaid Cymru around the budget. I hope that we will have a chance to have a further round of those discussions alongside the current budget-making process, and I'm very happy to meet the Member, if that would be the right way to do it, to share the information that we have as a result of what we've agreed so far, and to hear of other possibilities that she thinks we ought to be aware of.FootnoteLink 

Information further to Plenary

Will the Finance Minister highlight Welsh Government capital investment in the NHS and South Wales Central as a result of the Wales infrastructure investment plan, and does he agree with Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies that there will be no Brexit dividend to help finance the additional funding boost to the NHS, or perhaps even agree with Dr Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the House of Commons health committee, who tweeted this was 'tosh'?

'The Brexit dividend tosh was expected but treats the public as fools. Sad to see Govt slide to populist arguments rather than evidence on such an important issue.'

I thank Jane Hutt, of course, for that. I'll take her question in the two parts that she asked it. Of course we wish to use Welsh Government budgets to continue to invest in the NHS in South Wales Central. That includes £37 million currently being provided as part of phase 2 developments to improve neonatal care at the university hospital here in Cardiff; £14 million at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr, as part of the upgrading of facilities at that site; and £8 million to create a diagnostic hub at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, which I think is one of the most exciting developments shaping the future of health services in the South Wales Central area. As to the claim that the uplift in the NHS, when we finally find out what that actually means for Wales, and any suggestion that this is part of some sort of Brexit dividend has fallen apart so rapidly in the Prime Minister's hands that she must be deeply sorry that she ever included that in her announcement. We know, on any of the surveys that we see, is that it is likely to have an adverse effect on the economy right across the United Kingdom, an adverse effect on tax receipts into the Treasury. And any idea—any idea—that necessary investment in the NHS is to be found in that way is simply to perpetuate a piece of nonsense that was used during the referendum campaign. And I agree with what Sarah Wollaston said—it is deeply disappointing to see something that is so plainly misleading being repeated again.