6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Public transport in rural areas

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:58 pm on 26 January 2022.

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Photo of Hefin David Hefin David Labour 3:58, 26 January 2022

I don't think the purpose of an individual's Member's debate should always be to demonstrate unanimity amongst backbenchers across the Chamber, because there are always going to be differences between individuals. I make no apologies to James Evans for supporting the amendment from Alun Davies and, indeed, co-signing it, because it demonstrates a fundamental issue.

All of the examples that have been provided—and I'm looking across the screen now and I can see Conservative Members, I can see a Liberal Democrat, Labour Members—are demonstrating market failure, and the market failure is occurring because the market is unregulated. That is the reason for these issues and that is why that amendment gives the motion political backbone. Listening to Carolyn Thomas, I think this is where you could feel the heartfelt prize of someone who has fought these battles to get bus services in their community, as a cabinet member, to get these bus services up and running. You can see and hear the frustration from Carolyn in trying to get this happening, and that's exactly why I'm supporting this amendment. And I'm deeply offended, James Evans—look at me, James Evans, look up at the computer—I'm deeply offended by what you said when you said that deregulation happened 40 years ago, as if that was some distant time in the distant past. Well, actually, I'm 45 this year and I caught those buses, James Evans; I caught those buses that were run by Rhymney Valley district council. And they were reliable, they went to routes that no longer run now, and they were run by a public service. In 1986, after the Act that Jack Sargeant mentioned, Inter Valley Link was created as an arm's-length company—I know because my dad, as a councillor, was a director on the organisation. And on its own, it would have been successful, but the problem was that you had loads of other entrants into the market that came along and ran cheaper services on the same routes. And in 1990, Inter Valley Link went bust. Now, the reason Inter Valley Link went bust was because of the infiltration of the market by companies that were undercutting it. But do you know what happened next? They stopped running those routes. They stopped running those routes, and we saw all those routes collapse. 

Now, through Welsh Government investment and through public sector investment, we have seen some bridging of those gaps in the market. James, do you want to intervene? Do you want to intervene? Yes. Go ahead.