Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:29 pm on 15 February 2023.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I just reference the co-operation agreement, as it has been mentioned a number of times? Public transport is in the agreement, including encouraging people to switch to public transport. And I think we all need to take responsibility, in terms of ensuring that priorities are there, but this is part of the cost-of-living crisis, because people are completely dependent on buses, to be able to reach vital services. It's nice to have buses when you have a car, as an alternative route of transport, but for the majority of people I represent, there isn't that choice—a bus is the only choice. And that's a choice that's been taken away from them.
We have to remember as well that a number of people are still scared of leaving their homes, people who would have traditionally used buses—elderly people. Tackling isolation is a huge problem. I know of people who haven't ventured out more than once a week, and that's through taxis, where they would have had their independence with buses previously. So, I think there is an issue to understand why people aren't returning to bus use and how we can support them. Because I don't think it's a matter of just people who are working in offices not returning, because the majority of those have cars and are able to use those. We need a deeper understanding.
I would like to ask specifically, Deputy Minister, what conversations you've been having with bus companies and providers around the bus driver shortages, and the increasing use of agency staff by bus companies, meaning that a lot of the funding that's currently going in through the bus emergency scheme, the profit is actually going outside of Wales, to these agencies. Therefore, with that funding, how do we ensure that we are tackling the bus driver shortage and ensure that the investment that you're making, which is rightly extended for three months now, is actually benefiting users at the end of the day, and not leading to greater profit margins for these agencies?