8. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to improve air quality in the Monmouth constituency? OQ58365

Llywydd, studies in Chepstow and the surrounding area have been undertaken, and consideration is being given by Monmouthshire council to sustainable transport opportunities. The forthcoming clean air Bill will include proposals to improve air quality across Wales, including the Monmouth constituency.

Thank you, First Minister, for the response, and I thank you for acknowledging the issues around Chepstow. That's one of my main issues, because air pollution on the A48, and particularly the route on Hardwick Hill, which you will be aware of, is one of the most polluted stretches of roads in Wales. Residents have been pushing for a bypass for some years to help alleviate the issue. As I'm sure you're already aware, First Minister, the Welsh transport appraisal guidance process for this project and other measures is currently under way, and Monmouthshire County Council and partners, indeed with Welsh Government, have spent almost £500,000 there—£300,012 was contributed by Welsh Government. It's disappointing then to hear that the current new council administration are looking at pulling away from further work on this scheme, regardless of how much it's needed. Now, I understand it's the policy of your Government to consider new road building where to do so would improve air quality. First Minister, will the Government continue working with partners to progress the Chepstow bypass to reduce air pollution in congested areas, and how is the Government delivering on the recommendations of the Burns commission to improve access to public transport and active travel in the area to provide viable greener transport for the immediate future? Thank you. 

I thank the Member for that, Llywydd, and acknowledge the work that was done by the previous Conservative administration of Monmouth council, which brought forward three possible solutions to the acknowledged difficulties that are faced in parts of Chepstow. The current county council have split those three potential solutions and are currently consulting on the first two—an active travel plan in and around Chepstow and, part 2, a transport hub interchange at Chepstow railway station. I think it is right that, before the bypass option is further considered, we exhaust the potential of parts 1 and 2 to make their contribution to resolving the issues of air quality that are faced in that part of Wales. That doesn't mean that the bypass proposal does not have merit, but before we decide on the bypass, we want to make sure that those other things have been properly consulted upon and every impact that can be extracted from them is put in place. 

As far as the Burns commission is concerned, we continue to work on all those things that lie within the hands of the Welsh Government. Members will be aware of the actions that have been taken, for example, to work with Newport borough council to increase the fleet of electric buses that is available in that city, both for reasons of air quality and to improve public transport as an alternative to the car. The fundamental proposal of the Burns commission, as I know Peter Fox will recall, was for investment under the union connectivity review. We will have to wait now until we have a Government at Westminster capable of responding to the proposals that the union connectivity review received. I remain—. Well, I don't want to use the word 'optimistic', Llywydd, but I remain firmly of the view that it is a major test of the UK Government that it finds the money to go alongside the proposals that its own review brought forward, particularly in the part of Wales represented by the Member for Monmouth. 

Thank you, First Minister.