7. Will the First Minister provide an update on the work of the National Infrastructure Commission? OAQ54515

Llywydd, the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales will publish its first annual report on 27 November, as previously indicated. 

Thank you for your answer, First Minister. Two years ago, we were told by the Welsh Government then that the objectives of the commission would be to analyse, advise and make recommendations on Wales's longer term strategic economic and environment infrastructure needs over a three or five to 30-year period. I am pleased that some commissioners have now been appointed, but it does seem that little else has been produced or achieved. A scoping paper, we're told, will be available later this year. That's almost two years after the establishment of the commission. And a state of the nation paper won't be available before 2022. It seems to me that, certainly until recently, all we've had is one member of staff working out of a Welsh Government office. Do you believe that the commission has the correct resources to carry out its work, and when will we see some tangible evidence of progress?

Well, Llywydd, the resources available—the staffing resources available—to the commission have increased in recent times. The letter that the Minister, Julie James, sent to Russell George on 16 September sets out the increased research capacity that the commission will need as its work develops. I thought that the report that the committee provided was a useful report. I thought the way in which Russell George set out its conclusions in his letter to Julie James on 14 August was a constructive way of looking to improve the work of the commission in the future, and I hope that the Member will agree that the Minister's reply on 16 September was in the same spirit.

The first annual report of the national infrastructure commission was always scheduled for November of this year—there's no surprise in that. We have always followed the committee's advice in saying that reports would be published every three years after that, so 2022 ought not to come as a surprise to anybody either. We will also review the operation of the commission before the elections in 2021. But all of that is a matter of public record, Llywydd—all of that has always been the way in which the commission has been described, confirmed in the Minister's letter of September, in which she responded positively to other aspects of the committee's work, particularly in looking at ways in which the remit of the commission can be expanded to take in aspects of housing within its remit.

Finally, question 8—Leanne Wood.