4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's spending priorities for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OAQ54537

I thank the Member for that. We are committed to investing in public services, businesses and communities across Wales, including Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. In Merthyr, we have invested over £2 million through the social housing grant in the current financial year, £225 million for improvements to Prince Charles Hospital, and we have committed £42.5 million to band B of the twenty-first century schools programme.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I know that a number of those core priorities are important to the well-being of my constituents, particularly in the areas of health, housing and social care, but can I focus my supplementary question on the needs of the local economy? We know that there has recently been some bad economic news about job losses in the town, but I also know of companies that continue to recruit and have plans for expansion. So, for example, we saw recently the opening of Sharp Clinical Services in Rhymney last week. General Dynamics Land Systems UK is now recruiting more staff, and we see the success of major tourist attractions like BikePark Wales and Rock UK. And in each of those cases, Welsh Government has been a big help in delivering investment and jobs in my constituency. But with some of the economic uncertainties that we're currently facing, would you agree that Welsh Government investment in our transport network, including the completion of the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road from Dowlais to Hirwaun, the new bus station now under construction in Merthyr Tydfil, reregulation of bus services and investing in the rail and metro system, must be amongst Welsh Government's spending priorities, because it's those transport solutions that will be the vital underpinning of the economy of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, and the wider Valleys communities?

Llywydd, of course Dawn Bowden is right that investment in infrastructure is fundamental to a modern and successful economy. That's why we are so committed to making sure that we get maximum value out of the current round of EU funding programmes, with everything that that will do for Merthyr and Rhymney. We are going to spend £21.1 million to improve the Merthyr railway line, we're going to spend £19.5 million to improve the Rhymney line, and all of that comes from the 2014-20 EU funding programme. Alongside transport infrastructure of that sort, we need a digital infrastructure, and that's why we're investing £7.6 million in the superfast broadband infrastructure for the constituency that the Member represents.

The economy is, of course, fundamental to the future of the constituency. We have mobilised all the help that we can for those companies that find themselves in difficulty, but as we've said on the floor of the Assembly before, every week in Wales thousands of jobs are lost but thousands of jobs are created, and Merthyr Tydfil particularly has been a place in recent years where the economy has been thriving and, with support from the Welsh Government, will go on doing so into the future.

First Minister, concerns have been raised that your Government has decided to cut spending on the free swimming initiative by £1.5 million from next April. As a result, some people aged over 60 may not be able to access their usual session and may need to pay a subsidised amount for swimming sessions. Given the health and recreation benefits of free swimming for over-60s, how will you ensure that these benefits will continue to be enjoyed, especially by people living in deprived areas and communities such as Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? Thank you.

Llywydd, the Member may know that the most recent analysis of the free swimming scheme demonstrated that only 6 per cent of the population over 60 in Wales was taking advantage of free swimming. So, 94 per cent of the potential population were getting no benefit from it at all. That is why we have agreed with Sport Wales a new approach through local authorities to providing free swimming, which is explicitly directed to ensure that people in less well-off communities will have more opportunities to enjoy free swimming than in the past. That does involve some reform of the programme, but if you have a programme that is reaching only 6 per cent of its intended audience—if that isn't grounds for reform, I really don't know what would be.

Question 5—David Rowlands.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, after the Plaid Cymru conference, what assessment have you made of the financial impact that—?

You need to ask the question on the order paper. 

Sorry? 

Ask the question on the order paper—the question you've tabled.

I'm sorry—

You need to read out the question you've tabled; that wasn't the question you tabled.

I do apologise, Presiding Officer.