3. Will the First Minister provide an update on Welsh Government support for public transport in the Caerphilly constituency? OQ58067

I thank Hefin David for that, Llywydd. On Friday last week, the Welsh Government announced a further £50 million investment in active travel measures across Wales. All local authorities, including Caerphilly, will receive a minimum allocation of £500,000, and this funding will assist in developing alternatives to reliance on the car, including, of course, access to public transport services.

Just before I ask my question, I'd like to welcome Mr Sean Donovan and his mother Sarah into the public gallery. He will have taken a great deal of interest in the question that was asked by Adam Price and the response from the First Minister. I have also discussed this issue with them today.

And one of the key issues that I've raised previously with the First Minister is connection to the Grange hospital by public transport, by bus. I've spoken to Transport for Wales—I've had many meetings with them—and one of the things they are pioneering is a new east-to-west high-quality strategic bus corridor that would connect Llantrisant, Pontypridd, Abercynon, Nelson, Ystrad Mynach, Newbridge, Pontypool and Cwmbran to the Grange hospital, and I know my colleague from Blaenau Gwent is interested to see connections there too. It's going to be done in a three-stage process, and the first stage can be enacted quickly with the support of the Welsh Government, which is extending the route 21 service direct from Blackwood to the Grange, with an extension to Cwmbran. That can be done very, very soon. And stage 2, then, can follow fairly soon afterwards. What I'd like from the First Minister today is a timescale for that and some advice on how quickly that can be achieved—both stage 1 and stage 2, connecting our communities east and west, and particularly to the Grange hospital.

Llywydd, I thank Hefin David for that and acknowledge the consistent interest that he's taken in making sure that public transport links to the Grange hospital are as good as they can be, and I'm very pleased to say to him that we're in the final stages of finalising arrangements to introduce that new direct bus link to the hospital from Blackwood, Newbridge and Pontypool, and that that service will begin within a few weeks, in July. It will be a direct contract between the Welsh Government and the bus operator here in south Wales in order to get that service to happen. The service will operate on an hourly basis throughout the day, and we will carefully monitor its effectiveness over the first six months. That direct service will also connect with other bus and rail services at key hubs and interchanges. My colleague Lee Waters will make an announcement shortly to confirm the exact start date. It will be a significant advance in making sure that people who rely on public transport to get to and from the Grange hospital from the Member's constituency and from others along that route will now have that new service at their disposal.