2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:46 pm on 20 November 2018.

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Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 2:46, 20 November 2018

Could we have a statement on the M4 relief road? When you stood in for the First Minister on 23 October, leader of the house, you promised a binding vote in Government time and then said this was timetabled for the week commencing 4 December. We now have the business timetable through to Christmas and there's no sign of any motion on the M4. Did you misspeak?

Could you also perhaps give us the Government's perspective on the First Minister's interview on 15 November? Asked by BBC Wales whether he still intended to decide whether the road is built, the First Minister said,

'Yes, the plan is that I will take the decision'.

Is that the case, and, if so, isn't it just the planning permission that the First Minister would be determining, as opposed to whether the road would actually be funded and built? He then went on to say,

'The inspector's report has been received. It's more than 500 pages long, so it takes some time to digest and analyse', as some of us know with the withdrawal agreement. But he then said,

'I've not seen the report yet, but I expect that the report will be ready for me to take a decision by the end of the month'.

Surely, if it's so long and complex, the First Minister should be given it as quickly as possible if he's genuinely going to take the decision himself rather than just rubber-stamp someone else's decision, and, while he's about it, could it be published so that we can all read it too?