6. Will the First Minister make a statement on his priorities for transport in 2019? OAQ53282

I thank the Member. An updated version of the national transport finance plan will be published in February 2019. It will set out the Welsh Government's priorities across the range of transport modalities. 

I'm very grateful for that answer, First Minister. One of the priorities that I think your Government should adopt is to protect the existing transport infrastructure. We had some very stormy weather over the weekend and this was particularly visible on the Old Colwyn sea defences and the promenade in my own constituency, which were further undermined by those storms this weekend and indeed were washing cars towards the danger of the open sea. I would be very grateful if you could bring forward some investment in order to address the problems with those sea defences. As you will be aware, they protect vital railway infrastructure and the A55 trunk road. These are not considered to be sufficiently high in terms of priority by your Government at the moment. Will you review this as soon as you can, because we're on borrowed time and we've been warned time and time again by engineers that these are looking at catastrophic failure and they're beyond their shelf life? We need action now before lives are lost.  

I thank the Member for drawing attention to that again. I'm familiar from previous occasions when he's highlighted this matter about the Old Colwyn sea defences and of course I'm concerned to hear what he said about further undermining of them over the weekend. The issue, as the Member knows, is this: we are committed to doing something in that area, working with the local authority, but the greatest beneficiaries from the work that needs to be carried out will not be individual residents, of whom there are relatively few that will be protected by improved sea defences. The major beneficiaries will be Network Rail and Dŵr Cymru, and they have to come to the table to provide a contribution as well. If the public purse is to be invested in this—and the Member always makes a strong case for why that should be so—then other organisations that will benefit from the money that the Welsh public will put up will also have to be at the table. Anything that we can do and that he can do to persuade them to come to the table in that way will help to advance the timing of the case that he makes again today. 

The First Minister will be aware that I am very supportive of dualling the Britannia crossing between the mainland and Anglesey, and I’m grateful for the support that the Welsh Government has shown for that proposal. Does the First Minister agree with me that the most recent announcement on the suspension of the Wylfa Newydd project strengthens rather than weakens the argument for dualling that crossing, because the resilience of the crossing is crucial for promoting economic development on Anglesey as well as being important for the safety and security of that crossing between the island and the mainland more generally?

May I thank the Member for the question? I agree that the delay or the pause in the Wylfa scheme does create a new context for the bridge too. As Rhun ap Iorwerth knows, the Minister, before Christmas, announced the way forward that he favoured, or the preferred way forward, and I have heard from the Minister that the work that’s already ongoing will continue.