4. What progress has been made on a salary sacrifice support scheme for electric cars for Commission staff and staff of Members of the Senedd? OQ58815

I'm pleased to say that excellent progress has been made on the implementation of a salary sacrifice scheme for electric vehicles for Members, for Members' staff and also for Commission staff. The executive board has given in-principle approval of the scheme, following detailed background work, and final arrangements are now under way to set up the necessary systems and processes within the Senedd and with the scheme operator. I'm pleased to say that we anticipate that these are going to be finalised very soon in readiness for the scheme to be launched next month. Implementation of the scheme will support, of course, the Commission's 2030 carbon-neutral strategy and sustainable travel targets. 

That's really excellent news, and it's good to hear that it's coming forward very soon indeed. I should point out that electric cars, in my view, are not the be-all-and-end-all solution. Many people who will travel here to work or around the constituency will do it by walking, cycling or public transport, but they are a means forward to tackling our climate change emergency, our crisis. But the commissioner will know that we will anticipate that, in future, places in Wales may be subject to congestion car charging—who knows? In which case, we want to give people options of how to avoid that and do it with clean vehicles. Could I ask how you will communicate that to staff here in the Commission and to Members' staff when it is brought forward in January or February?

Can I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for raising this important question, and for his keen interest in the subject? He's absolutely right, of course, that, whilst electric cars are much better for the environment in terms of their day-to-day operation, they still carry with them problems concerning brake and tyre particulates, so they're not the be be-all and end-all, as Huw Irranca-Davies has said. Nonetheless, they will improve the carbon footprint that we have collectively here in the Senedd. 

We are proposing to put together a frequently asked questions paper that will be available to Members, to Members' staff, to Commission staff—that will be available on the intranet. And in January, we'll be launching pages on the intranet with information about the scheme, the costs, the models, the scheme operator, and so forth. So, all information regarding the scheme will be available to Members, to Members' staff and Commission staff in the next month.  

Thank you.