Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 15 February 2023.

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Photo of Peter Fox Peter Fox Conservative 1:47, 15 February 2023

Thank you, Minister—thank you for that clarity. I think it's really important that the Senedd understands the detail. I know that it'll be in the supplementary budget and we look forward to discussing that earlier. There are always opportunity costs when things have to be adjusted like that. So, it's important that we do understand the implications of those decisions.

But, Minister, in a similar vein of understanding the implications of Welsh Government's decisions, you'll be aware that this year marks the entire decade since your Government unilaterally took control of Cardiff Airport. In that time, literally hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money has been poured into the site, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that it's well over £200 million that has been pumped into the airport, both in revenue and capital. This begs the question of what the wasted sums of money could have alternatively been used on over the years—the opportunity costs are colossal. Minister, do you regret the sums of money that your Government have poured into the airport over the last 10 years, and with hindsight, Minister, do you agree with me that it was a poor and costly decision?