Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 24 January 2023.
I thank Joel James for that. It's never good to hear of the sort of experience that he has set out, but I am able to say to him and to the Chamber that this topic was absolutely at the forefront of a recent meeting of the ministerial disability equality forum, chaired by my colleague Jane Hutt, at the end of November—a meeting that focused on the experience of people with disabilities, including a good representation of people who are themselves visually impaired, together with the chief executive of Transport for Wales and senior Welsh Government transport staff. That meeting will be followed up with a further meeting in February. The meeting did explore some of the barriers that people who face difficulties in using public transport have experienced in making their voices powerfully heard with the providers of that transport. But it was a very full and frank exchange of those views, and the conclusion was that it had opened up the way to make sure that, for those people who give their time voluntarily to be part of the accessibility panel that Transport for Wales holds, the work can be more effective in making sure that services are properly available to people who are visually impaired or have other disabilities in the future. That disability panel has been there for some time; it has already had an impact on the work of Transport for Wales. I'm sure, given the account that Joel James read out, he will want to congratulate Transport for Wales on its decision not to close ticket offices in Wales as has been announced for every station in England.