I want to focus my remarks today on bus travel, because for Torfaen, like many deprived communities in Wales, these are the transport links that matter most. Without the right solution for operators, drivers and passengers, we risk falling foul of the worst possible long-term outcome of this pandemic: that existing disadvantage is further entrenched for our communities.

I know there is a live debate happening right now about whether COVID-19 will force people back into their cars, but, for many people in communities like Trevethin in my constituency, where car ownership is way below the Welsh average, there simply isn't a choice to be made. On health or environmental grounds, it is public transport or nothing. It's the same thing on mortality rates, the ability to homeschool, accessing healthcare or transport solutions. COVID-19 is not the great equaliser that some suggested back in March. It does not impact us all the same. In fact, this pandemic has operated like a catalyst for inequality. As Professor Devi Sridhar has said,

'Wealth is the best shielding strategy for this virus, and from experiencing severe impacts.'

As we work our way out of lockdown, boosting safe access to public transport is vital to ensure that public health protection is not just for the privileged. I recognise it won't be easy. Polling tells us the return to public transport is the No. 1 concern for people when it comes to easing of lockdown, with 78 per cent of people saying they're worried. Combine this with 90 per cent fewer bus journeys being taken, and we are in very difficult territory.

The newly announced bus emergency scheme is very welcome, and I was particularly pleased to see that, in order to access the funding, engagement about planning for routes will be mandated. This must ensure that socially vital links are maintained, and not just the most popular journeys. If in-built inequality has been magnified by the pandemic, then we must see recovery as an engine of opportunity for our poorest communities. This debate about equality and opportunity is not confined to passengers; it matters for bus drivers, too. Figures from the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales show significantly raised rates of death involving COVID-19 amongst bus and coach drivers. Members will know that Sadiq Khan has announced a specific inquiry into the issue in London.

So, this brings me on to the second point today, and that is mandatory face coverings on public transport. Everyone in the Senedd will know I have been supportive of the very cautious approach taken in Wales to easing lockdown, and therefore I find it very difficult to justify what seems like this particular anomaly in our approach. In Scotland, when the mandatory wearing of face coverings was announced, it received universal support from operators, trade unions and passenger groups. Their independent watchdog, Transport Focus, said plainly,

'People thinking of returning to public transport have told us they want face coverings to be used by all passengers.'

This is an attitude I believe will be replicated in Wales, where 81 per cent of people surveyed last month said they support the wearing of face coverings in indoor shared spaces. The message seems clear to me: if we want people to return safely to public transport, we must mandate face coverings. The British Medical Association in Wales has said that wearing masks will afford greater protection to the public and, importantly, will protect the lives of the staff working on public transport, who, as evidence suggests, are at greater risk of infection. Information I've been given by Unite the union, which represents drivers across Wales, shows the problems their members are facing on a daily basis because of current guidance. This is particularly acute on cross-border services, with passengers boarding without masks then becoming embroiled in arguments with other passengers on both sides of the border who are wearing masks. Now, the only way to solve those arguments when they occur is for the driver to leave their seat, making them yet more vulnerable to COVID-19.

As one of the reasons for not going down the mandatory route is not wanting to ask transport staff to police these measures, it seems that the current guidance is making them do that anyway, but without the clarity of Welsh law behind them. I've looked at what the chief medical officer has said on this, I've looked at the World Health Organization guidance and I've read the note from the technical advisory group, and I have to say that it seems anything but clear to me why we are pursuing a non-mandatory route. Can I therefore ask the Minister to publish a more detailed account from the TAG? The note produced from that discussion is vague and unhelpful to those of us who want to understand the Government's decision making. Where the Government cites, for example, that the wearing of face coverings may lead to people not pursuing other, more important safety measures, it would benefit this discussion to know exactly where that evidence comes from and what it says in detail. It seems to me that this is a matter of public messaging, and, if the Government gets that right, we can adopt what the trade unions are calling for—a commonsense approach that protects drivers and benefits passengers alike. Thank you.