2. Will the First Minister make a statement on recent discussions with the National Grid on the north Wales connection? OAQ53103

Officials are in regular discussions with National Grid on a number of issues, including the proposed north Wales connection project, which is currently going through the development consent Order process. The Welsh Government has submitted its representations to this process.

Thank you very much. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish the First Minister well in his final question session, and to thank him for his courtesy over the last five and a half years in answering questions on behalf of my constituents.

A constituent from the Star, Gaerwen area was in tears on the phone to my office yesterday, feeling that she was under siege from the National Grid plans. That’s the feeling on Anglesey. Contrary to the wishes of the people of the island, and its representatives, the grid still wants to proceed with building a new row of pylons across the island. This National Assembly has voted against having pylons and in favour of undergrounding as a matter of principle. Will you therefore ask your officials in this forum, as one of your final acts as First Minister, to write to the Planning Inspectorate to encourage the rejection of these pylons, and also to write to Ofgem, as I have done this week, to insist that the grid must give real, meaningful consideration to putting its cables on the new bridge across the Menai, rather than tunneling at a possible cost of £200 million? It would save money for the Welsh Government as joint investor in the bridge, and would save money for the grid, which could then be invested in undergrounding.

I agree completely with that. One of the problems that we’ve had in Britain over the years is that no sufficient consideration has been given to ensuring that, if one project proceeds, another project can take advantage of that. One is the Severn bridge and the fact that only cars can cross the bridge. There’s no rail deck there. But, with the Menai crossing, I think it would be important to understand that it’s a very good option that saves money for everybody and of course it’s a way of ensuring that the costs of constructing a new bridge would be reduced.

As regards the grid itself, we’re still urging the grid to ameliorate the impact of any new lines and to ensure that undergrounding is considered in repect of environmental and community impact, and also to consider undergrounding as a serious prospect, because I understand the concern of the people of Ynys Môn, and that’s why it’s so important that the grid should consider ensuring, as far as possible, that any new lines are buried.

In terms of your future role, I know this is the end of a chapter, but not the book. I also understand that Mrs Jones may have some ideas for you about what activities you might be undertaking as you go forward, according to media reports. 

I was pleased to attend the 28 September meeting and speak at the 'Anglesey Says No To Pylons' public meeting at Menai Bridge, to discuss the next step, now that the National Grid had submitted the application for development consent to the planning inspectorate. As I said, there are cost advantages to the pylon proposals, but that doesn't take away from the general argument in favour of burying cables in areas of great natural beauty and helping the local economy as much as possible. However, all this is predicated essentially on Wylfa, and Wylfa Newydd going forward. What engagement or discussion has your Government had further to coverage yesterday indicating that there was now speculation, and that the board of Hitachi would be meeting in Japan today to discuss this issue because of concerns about projections of future increases in construction costs?

Well, can I thank the Member and others for their kind wishes? I think I have taken 320 First Minister's questions and been asked 3,000 questions and more. I'll leave others to judge whether I answered most of them, indeed, any of them. I'm sure everyone will have their view on that. 

I am aware, of course, of the press speculation regarding Hitachi's investment. It is press speculation. It is a complicated process. Horizon has been in formal negotiations with the UK Government since the Secretary of State's positive statement in June this year regarding the financing of Wylfa Newydd, in a way, of course, which works both for investors and the UK electricity market. There is nothing beyond the press speculation to suggest that the project is at risk in any way, but, of course, we will continue to monitor the situation closely.