3. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: Update on the Metro

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 20 October 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 3:26, 20 October 2021

Absolutely. I think that those are both strands of the same argument. Capacity and capability within local authorities is a real delivery constraint. That's why it's essential that local authorities work through the corporate joint committees to pool their resources. Then, we'll work alongside them, through Transport for Wales. James Price has said, as chief executive, that he wants TfW to be the servant of local authorities—to be the technical brain for them; that the accountability in decision making is local, but that we pool the delivery capability. I think that that is a sensible model.

As I say, I'm really encouraged by the Newport example. Through that Burns delivery plan, we are, I think, sketching out what can be applied to the rest of Wales. The Welsh Government has got a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes, which you won't have seen the result of yet. That is one of the problems that we have with the whole metro development. The lag between the planning and the technical work and the delivery is long, and people are tired of hearing the promises because they don't see anything for it.

But, we are definitely going to see a change with that for the south Wales metro in the coming year or so, and I think that we will see that in Newport too. The Welsh Government and the council and TfW are working very closely as one unit to design schemes, put them in for funding and then work on the delivery. So, I'm confident that the model is working, and we hope to scale it.