7. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact that coronavirus has had on the Welsh Government's annual budget? OQ56287

Yes. With significant ongoing uncertainty about the path of the pandemic, we remain focused on providing the right funding at the right time. In 2020-21, we have already allocated more than £4 billion, including nearly £2 billion to support businesses, with further significant allocations in our third supplementary budget this month.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. Clearly, the UK Government has access to far greater finances than does the Welsh Government, and it will be very necessary to have those finances to help us recover from the coronavirus. So, can you tell us what discussions you have had or are planning to have with UK Government to support the rebuild of Welsh finances?

So, I'll be looking very carefully at what will be said at the UK Government's budget on 3 March in terms of what it might say in terms of providing support for a recovery effort and the reconstruction of the economy. I'm particularly keen to see what they have to say in terms of capital, because, of course, when we look at what the Chancellor said back in March, we were expecting to be receiving around £400 million of additional capital funding in next year's budget, and that would have been really something that we could use to motor forward with the reconstruction work, with the kind of infrastructure projects that will be necessary for the reconstruction effort. But, in the event, we actually received a cut to our capital budget, which was very unexpected. So, I'm wondering if the Chancellor might be taking the opportunity to announce additional funding in March. That's what I would hope to see. And then Welsh Government would obviously want to put in place those projects that actually we've had the opportunity to discuss right at the start of questions today with the spokesperson for Plaid Cymru, in terms of the infrastructure projects that we have in the pipeline. So, I think that would be one area where I would like to see much more action from the UK Government, and some more clarity in terms of funding for the future years.

I've heard your response, Minister, to David Rowlands, but, of course, it's a matter for the Welsh Government how the Welsh Government cuts its cloth in terms of the funding from central Government. Now, I am concerned that, in the budget for national transport, infrastructure has gone from £150 million this year to £129 million in the next financial year. There are certainly long-term infrastructure projects and upgrades that are required across Wales, and so I'm just trying to understand why that is the case, why this budget has been significantly cut.

Well, there'll be a number of different challenges in relation to transport for next year. So, on the capital side, as I say, our capital budget has reduced next year, but I am hoping that the Chancellor will take the opportunity in March to provide additional funding and then we can always do more. Right at the start of today's session, I was rehearsing some of the particular projects that we would be looking to bring forward—for example, the third Menai crossing, the work on the A55, A494, A458 Flintshire corridor and the south Wales integrated transport metro and all of those kinds of projects. So, that's part of the story.

The other part is, of course, the COVID-related funding for transport. So, you'll have seen in the draft budget I've provided additional transport funding for buses, because I'm really keen that that sector has the certainty across the financial year and they're not worrying, as we come to the end of this financial year, that there won't be support, and that would have, obviously, negative impacts on service provision for the passengers. So, clearly, one of the next things I'm doing is exploring what, if anything, we need to see at the moment in terms of rail. So, there are further discussions, I think, to be had about support for the transport sector, but, in terms of the infrastructure side of things, clearly, we are more constrained than we would want to be in terms of the capital budget.

Thank you very much, Minister.