The Road Transport Network

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 30 April 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:10, 30 April 2019

I thank the Member for that question. I want to recognise the seriousness of the issue to which he has pointed and Members will know that the Minister for Economy and Transport's written statement published on 3 April provided the detail that lies behind the issue that the Member has highlighted. So, here was a complex construction scheme where a solution was required to address a particular geographical feature that the company, the contractor, argue was only discoverable once construction had begun. It is a matter of regret to the Welsh Government that the contractor has then incurred substantial overspend and programme delays and the detail of that is set out in the Minister's statement. While we will not now have full completion by the end of this year, the bulk of the work will be completed—the significant bulk of the work will be completed—during 2019 and we expect the remainder of the scheme to be completed in the early part of next year.