1. What discussions has the First Minister had with the UK Government about Wales getting its fair share of rail infrastructure investment following the Hendy report’s endorsement of the south-east Wales metro proposals? OQ57341

Llywydd, I thank the Member for that question, and I welcome the Hendy review's support for our metro and the Burns commission recommendations. The Deputy Minister for Climate Change will meet the UK Minister responsible for the review on 15 December to discuss the report, the latest in a series of meetings concerning its work. 

Well, that's excellent news, First Minister, because it is now four years since the UK Government decided to cancel the electrification of the main line to Swansea. How long does it take for the UK Government to come up with their alternative plan for modernising Wales's rail network? And I hope that, in your discussions, and Lee Water's discussions with the UK Government, there's full understanding that Wales is entitled to a modernised railway system just like the rest of the United Kingdom. 

Well, I thank Jenny Rathbone for that. Of course those are the points we make repeatedly to the UK Government. The current system simply doesn't work for Wales. The rail network enhancement pipeline is still focused on investment in the south-east of England. We have no control over it. We have no say over the process, and the process itself is opaque, it's bureaucratic and it's slow, as Jenny Rathbone has said. 

And then the playing field simply isn't level here. HS2 we talk about here in the Chamber often. With the HS2 programme, the comparability factor, which drives money through the Barnett formula for Scotland, is 100 per cent. For Northern Ireland, it is 100 per cent. For Wales, it's 0 per cent, despite the fact that HS2 does not enter Wales at any point, and the UK Government's own analysis shows that it is more likely to do economic damage to Wales than to do economic good.

And Jenny Rathbone, Llywydd, is absolutely right to point to the fact that when the electrification of the south Wales main line was cancelled by the Conservative Government as far back as 2017, the Secretary of State for Wales at the time made a great deal of the fact that there would be a series of business cases coming through to improve journey times along that line. Not a single one of those business cases, four years later, has been completed.  

First Minister, having met with some of the colleagues that we have in the Westminster Parliament, the UK Government does recognise, in improving transport connections, as do you, that they are an important part of helping people access job opportunities and supporting business growth all across Wales. And I completely agree with you—levelling up is very important to them, as much as it is to all of us. That is why they are actually investing record amounts in Wales's railway infrastructure, including more than £1.5 billion in the Wales route from 2019 to 2024, £5.7 billion on new InterCity express trains on the Great Western main line, £125 million on the Wales Valleys lines upgrades, and £50 million on resignalling on the north Wales coast main line. 

The Hendy report, as you mentioned—I appreciate it; you welcome it, and I welcome it too—said that devolution has been good for transport and delivery has been devolved, but that this has resulted in a lack of attention to connectivity between the nations of the United Kingdom. The UK Government stands ready to support any rail infrastructure scheme, including new stations, with a strong business case behind it. Will you, First Minister, welcome the Prime Minister's commitment to improving transport infrastructure in Wales, and will you commit to working collaboratively with the UK Government on the Hendy proposals to improve transport to strengthen the Welsh economy and provide greater connectivity?

Well, the part of the Member's contribution that I did agree was her endorsement of the Hendy review. It does indeed say, as she says, that devolution has been good for transport, and I think that is a solid basis from which we can now hope that the UK Government will go ahead and implement the proposals. Because let's be clear, Llywydd, what we have is a report that the UK Government commissioned, and which says to them that they need to invest, they need to invest properly, in the south Wales main line, the north Wales line, in order to improve connectivity. We're promised a reply from the UK Government in the new year. At that point, what we will need to see is genuine investment—genuine investment on their responsibilities, which the Hendy review, fairly and squarely, puts to them. And if at that point we see that investment coming through, then I'll be prepared to sign up to some of the Member's propositions about increased investment. We certainly haven't seen it up until now. I'm optimistic that we will, if the UK Government is prepared to act on it, see investment as a result of the review.

I'm glad that it seems that the south Wales metro line is finally moving forward; we've been discussing it for many years. I think the Counsel General said in the past that he described the south Wales metro line as some sort of Loch Ness project—nobody was quite sure whether it existed or not. But I'm glad, with the endorsement now of the Hendy report, maybe Nessie will come up for air now and we'll see that it does actually exist. Professor Mark Barry has done a lot of work on this, to keep the metro line on the political map. And earlier this year, in collaboration with Cardiff capital region, he published a passenger rail vision. This document provides clear examples of transport-enabled economic regeneration and development. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of that report, and what discussions have you had with the Westminster Government to ensure that sufficient funding will come to turn the dream of a south Wales metro into reality? Diolch yn fawr.

Diolch yn fawr. Llywydd, the south Wales metro is funded by the Welsh Government—£438 million-worth of investment that we will have mobilised in order to make a reality of it. I pay tribute to the work of Mark Barry, quite certainly, who has for so long made the case for improved rail investment in this part of south Wales, in the south-west of Wales, and more generally too. The work of the south Wales metro is absolutely well under way—I know from my own constituency, where there is inevitable disruption to local communities while that major investment in electrification of the Valleys lines is taking place. But people recognise that the temporary disruption—provided it's properly managed—is a long-term investment in the improvements that the south Wales metro will bring: a modern, twenty-first century system that will allow people to leave the car at home, use the new public transport facilities. It's an economic investment, it's an investment in the future of our economy, and it's an investment consistent with the climate change challenge that we know we are facing.