Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 30 March 2022.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 1:41, 30 March 2022

Diolch, Llywydd. Members will be aware that, yesterday, during business questions, I did call, through the Trefnydd, on the Deputy Minister for Climate Change to make a statement regarding the horrendous situation on Monday that saw a number of trains, several carriages, hundreds of travellers stranded for several hours on trains on a very warm day, and the situation was less than ideal. Well, I'm very pleased to say that the Minister and I spoke yesterday afternoon, afterwards, and he did promise that he would get some kind of information back from Transport for Wales. I'm very grateful for the letter I've had from the chief executive, via you, Deputy Minister, and they are going to launch a serious investigation into that. They are asking anybody to come forward who was greatly affected by this, and I would urge people to do that. Diolch. 

So, moving on to my spokesperson's questions, my first one is on energy security. Now, our actions on energy security must be resolute and firm if we are to safeguard the future of a vibrant and international outlook in Wales. We must play our part to end the global addiction to Russian energy and unleash the power of our own Welsh dragon. Russian imports currently account for 8 per cent of total UK oil demand and 4 per cent of total UK gas supply. Now, in response to the shocking and illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UK Government is to phase out oil imports during the course of the year. The UK's exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of the UK Government's plan to generate more cheap, clean, renewable energy and nuclear power in the UK. Your vision as to how to scale up renewable energy in Wales has been outlined in the renewable energy deep-dive. Some of the recommendations are set to take some time to deliver—2023 for marine strategic resource areas, and 2024 for a national energy plan. In light of the new energy crisis, what steps will you take to supercharge work on producing more renewable energy and bringing forward the national energy plan? Diolch.