4. How is the Welsh Government supporting town centre transformation in South Wales Central? OQ57335

Thank you for the question.

Our Transforming Towns programme is supporting the long-term sustainability of our town and city centres by increasing footfall and making them attractive places to be. Town and city centres across the South Wales Central region have benefited from £13.8 million worth of Transforming Towns funding since January 2020.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Last Saturday, I met with two of Wales's youth climate ambassadors, Leo and Alfred, who live in the Pontypridd area. Amongst the issues we discussed were town centres and how some current and planned developments seem to be missing opportunities to make our town centres greener and play a greater role in being part of our response to the climate and nature emergency, as well as improving air quality. They cited some innovative international examples such as vertical gardens, which go beyond tree planting and flower pots, and asked why Wales isn't doing more in this regard. They cited not only the benefits but also how communities can shape and take ownership of such projects to inspire residents and activism. I'm aware that you launched the ministerial town centre action group and sub-groups, which of course is welcomed to address the challenges faced by our town centres, but how will you ensure that responding to the climate and nature emergency is central to this group's work and that local authorities are supported and actively encouraged to be innovative and green in their own town centre developments?

I certainly agree with the challenge—and I thought the Member dealt brilliantly well with the heckling that she was getting from behind her and deserves points for that. [Laughter.]

I certainly think there are examples in regeneration projects of biophilic houses, there's certainly one in Swansea that looks very promising, and I certainly think that the youth climate ambassadors she's met with have a very strong argument, and I'd be keen to discuss with them and with her what more can be done. We have set up a ministerial town centre taskforce that I've asked to take forward the report by Professor Karel Williams and by Audit Wales into regenerating town centres, and I'd be very happy to ask them to look in particular at the points she makes and how they can build that into their work and recommendations. 

Deputy Minister, what assistance are you giving to partners to try and get energy charging points in town centres? Because if you go to out-of-town shopping centres, many of the private companies that occupy those shopping centres are installing charging points for electric vehicles. We know that Wales sadly lags behind in the installation of these charging points to other parts of the United Kingdom. It will require a joined-up approach; so, Government working with either local authorities or other business partners to see that town centres have these charging points so that they are attractive to people who have electric cars, as we know they're going to be increasingly used in the future. What actions are you taking to engage with partners to make sure there are more charging points in town centres across South Wales Central?

Well, I think we already are doing that. We’ve recently launched our action plan on electric charging, and we currently have a programme, this financial year, of investing in town centre charging points. And far from lagging behind England, as you suggest, in terms of the proportion of the electric cars we have in Wales, we have a roughly similar proportion of chargers available for the cars there are. Though, clearly, as the number of electric cars increases, as we all wish to see, then we need to keep pace with that and increase the investment. I agree with the point he makes, but I do think we are making reasonable progress.