Rail and Metro Services

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 4 July 2018.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:39, 4 July 2018

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.