Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 5 February 2020.
I have to say that it's been a cause of great frustration for me, having succeeded in reaching that agreement, to see these delays in spending the money. In a written response I received in November on Government expenditure over the past five years on charging infrastructure, we see that as little over £0.5 million is provided in grants to the councils of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea back in May last year, and a little more allocated in September. Two million pounds wasn't much as it was, but it was very important to have that funding in place in order to give this sector a boost.
But do you accept that spending only half of that throughout the whole of Wales on public charging points up until the end of last year is a proof of the Government's failure in turning spending pledges into reality? And if that's your attitude towards the charging network, doesn't that pose some very grave questions about the pledges made more broadly now in terms of tackling climate change and the willingness and ability of Government to turn those plans into reality?