As our motion proposes, this Welsh Parliament should regret

'the failure of the Welsh Government to provide adequate support for Welsh bus operators during the coronavirus pandemic' and call on the Welsh Government to

'urgently review and increase the support available to bus operators in Wales to enable them to increase the frequency and capacity of bus services for the people of Wales'.

The number of bus and coach vehicles in Wales is down 10 per cent in five years, and almost 20 per cent over the last decade. Although a written statement by the Minister for economy and transport, Ken Skates, on 31 March detailed initial support of £69 million for bus and rail services, this is just the normal funding paid upfront, not new money. Three months later, there had still been no update on special funding for bus routes, in stark contrast to the UK Government, which, on 3 April, announced £397 million for English bus services to cope with the pandemic, including £167 million of new funding over 12 weeks, and to the Scottish Government, which announced £46.7 million additional expenditure on 19 June to support bus operators in increasing bus services over the next eight weeks. On 24 June, Arriva Buses Wales wrote to me about the significant impact of social distancing on bus capacity, adding that without additional financial support, akin to the COVID-19 bus service support grant in place across England, bus operators cannot operate the existing insufficient service levels across Wales on a financially sustainable basis, let alone increase service levels to 100 per cent of pre-crisis levels to provide essential capacity across the bus network.