2. How will investment in rail and metro services benefit the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency? OAQ5245

Local people will be better connected and will be able to take advantage of job, health and leisure opportunities. The metro will deliver four trains per hour to each of the Heads of the Valleys communities north of Cardiff Queen Street, from 2022 for Merthyr, and from 2023 for Rhymney.

Thank you for that information, which sets out the clear benefits as we deliver the 2016 manifesto commitment in this regard. In the recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, entitled 'Effective housing for people on low incomes in the Welsh Valleys', there was a recommendation—it was recommendation 3 in fact—to improve access to employment. And the report states that employment-related initiatives can only be effective if they lead to decent, sustainable employment, and, in certain parts of Valleys, which I believe must include places like the upper Rhymney valley, that will require significant economic renewal. Now, given that there are only limited opportunities to directly intervene for the economic well-being of these communities, it seems to me that when the Welsh Government holds the levers of economic power, as with investment in the rail franchise and metro, we must make sure that our more isolated communities, like the upper Rhymney valley, are the direct beneficiaries of these projects. Can I therefore ask you, Cabinet Secretary, what you will do to ensure that this happens?

Well, I'd agree entirely with the Member that transport has a crucial role to play in regeneration and growing the economy not just in established centres of wealth, but also in more deprived areas. And Rhymney will see investment in a new bay platform, will see investment in track stabling and charging points and enhanced light maintenance. And this will support the more and bigger trains that will be coming down the line, and it's also in addition to the four services an hour from 2023. But I'm pleased to be able to tell the Member that light maintenance of the rolling stock will be undertaken at the Rhymney stabling facilities, providing, as she rightly identifies, the opportunity for employment in the future. 

Residents in the upper Valleys have often told me that one of the greatest barriers to travelling to Cardiff to seek work is not the frequency of service or necessarily the speed, but the cost. So, from that perspective, can I really welcome the agreement between Welsh Government and the new franchise holder to reduce the fares from the upper Valleys, and can I ask the Cabinet Secretary will that apply in reverse for people travelling from Cardiff up to Merthyr for work or otherwise, and will it also apply to people coming from the upper Valleys to Newport?

Yes, the aim with flatlining is to make sure that those who are accessing opportunities or coming from those communities at the Heads of the Valleys pay less, making sure that we bring a degree of equality of opportunity in terms of access and job opportunities. It's worth saying that one of the major barriers facing people who are not in work is the cost and availability of transport, and I identified one particular statistic that is of great concern to me and that is that 20 per cent of young people in the north-east of Wales are unable to get to their job interviews because they can't afford or access public transport. That is not acceptable in the twenty-first century, and I think the concessionary schemes and the flatlining agreement that we've reached with the operator and development partner are crucial in ensuring that everybody has access to employment opportunities.