Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 3:07 pm on 23 September 2020.
Can I ask, Minister—can I ask you about the 29 houses that were purchased for over £15 million via compulsory purchase orders in preparation for the building of the M4 relief road, and, specifically, the two properties that were bought for just under £1 million in April of last year, just two months before the First Minister took the decision to abandon the M4 relief scheme? People looking in will certainly, I think, feel that these decisions on spends were disjointed. We've now seen £157 million of taxpayers' money wasted. In regards to the properties purchased, money would have been spent, of course, on professional fees. The properties themselves remain as assets. Can you provide an update in regards to the position of these properties? Have they been sold? Are they being marketed? And how much capital has been released back to the Welsh Government to allow it to spend on other capital projects?