4. Statement by the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales: Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 6 May 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 3:09, 6 May 2020

Can I thank Russell George for those further questions? I will speak with the WLGA regarding the variation in terms of how councils are supporting businesses on a discretionary basis, to ensure that all support that can be given to businesses is being given and that local authorities are not acting in an overly nervous way, as Russell has outlined.

In terms of the recovery, our concern first and foremost is with the health of workers and the health of the general public, and that's why we'll be keenly ensuring that practicing social distancing and practicing safe working measures is a priority for all businesses as they resume, and that includes the construction sector. The construction sector will have an incredibly important role to play in terms of stimulating economic recovery immediately after we emerge from this crisis, and we're working with the sector to examine how we can ensure that public investment in infrastructure is utilised to swiftly recover the economy. Members will be aware that many construction sites have remained open in order to contribute to the national effort to overcome coronavirus and to deliver important infrastructure schemes for the country. I'll liaise with the Minister responsible for planning regarding regulations and rules, but, as I say, it is absolutely vital that we prioritise the health and well-being of workers.

In terms of broadband, I'll ask the Deputy Minister to write to Members with an update on the latest phase of the superfast broadband intervention.FootnoteLink

And with regard to public transport, I can share with Members today news that work has been commissioned by the Department for Transport regarding future behaviours in terms of public transport usage. That will help to inform capacity planning and demand management across the population. What concerns us right now is that we need to guarantee that the health and safety of the travelling public and the people working in public transport is maintained. That will, in turn, lead to reduced capacity and, therefore, we need to manage expectations as to how many seats will be available on trains and on buses, and how we're going to go about ensuring that we can get as many people back to work in a safe way, in a way that does not compromise the health of people working on public transport systems or, indeed, the travelling public. I'll report back on how the funding has been used so far, the stabilising funding for rail and bus services, as we consider the longer term interventions that may need to be made in order to ensure that we have the best possible public transport system as we emerge from this crisis.