Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:42 pm on 29 September 2021.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I thank Members who took part in this debate today? My colleague Joel James opened the debate today, calling on the Government in a number of areas, but first of all, Joel set out the positive impact of the removal of the Severn crossing tolls. I genuinely thought that this might be something that all Members would be agreed on, but that's not the case. I appreciate Jenny Rathbone's comments in her contribution today; I don't agree with much of what was said, but I appreciate the points that were made. I genuinely think that there is a positive impact from those Severn crossing tolls being removed.
Also, Joel James set out our concern as well about the proposals from Government in terms of the potential tolls on the M40, the A470, the A55, and other trunk roads. The Deputy Minister said that they're not proposals; it's a survey suggesting that this could take place. So, I think there is some difference of opinion on what is 'a proposal'.
Also, my colleague Joel James set out positive suggestions from us as Welsh Conservatives in terms of promoting greener transport, in terms of supporting the provision of electric charging points, which is something I'm passionate about myself. I think there is a role for Government here in terms of support for electric charging points across Wales, because we've got to break that chicken-and-egg cycle. Electric charging points aren't going to be built until we've got electric cars, and electric cars are not going to move forward at the pace we want to see unless we have those charging points in place. So, there's a role for Government to step in here until the commercial sector can take its part in that provision.
Also, the further promotion of active travel; I appreciate other Members who spoke well in this debate today, John Griffiths and others, talking about initiatives in their own areas, as they have before, previously. And the extension of free bus passes to those aged between 16 and 25, as well; I think there was some mention about the cost of that. I think it could have been Jenny that mentioned that. Well, it is costed, because that was a proposal in the Welsh Conservatives manifesto; that was something that was costed within that manifesto as well.
I thank Delyth Jewell for moving Plaid's amendment today, and also Heledd Fychan for talking to those points as well. I think, in terms of Plaid's amendment, there's general agreement from us on the points made in those contributions and in the amendment put forward. I think the only question we would have is there are some possible high potential costs in some of the areas that Plaid outlined in their amendment, so I think we as Conservatives want to know more about those costings before we could support. But there's a general principle of support, I think, for Plaid's amendments today.
My other colleagues spoke this afternoon—Peter Fox, Gareth Davies—and, I thought, brought forward positive suggestions to the Government. I can see the Deputy Minister laughing. But there were positive comments, and the Deputy Minister didn't pick up on any of them at all—he just dismissed them, telling us to shut up, which I don't think was appropriate at all. But what my colleagues are pointing out particularly is that there's particularly a difference in rural areas where, if you want to get people moving from the car to public transport, we've got to have that public transport in place. There are still huge gaps in rural Wales in terms of that provision, and sadly I think those that live in my constituency, and in areas like Brecon and Radnor—there's no option but to have a car, unfortunately, for the vast majority of people. So, that's where we've really got to make an effort in terms of improving our infrastructure and improving provision on public transport.
I have to say I really would have appreciated a more comprehensive response to our positive suggestions put forward today from the Deputy Minister. I think that we've put forward suggestions in the spirit of co-operation. There's a lot, I think, that we could have agreed on today, like the clean air Act. There's lots we can agree on, but that was dismissed rather than being talked about in any positive way today. But I thank Members for their contributions to our debate this afternoon.