2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Government's response to the roads review? OQ59264

I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth. The Government’s response was set out by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change in a statement to the Senedd on 14 February.

Simply put, what I'm asking the First Minister to do today is to hold a genuine review of the decision not to proceed with the scheme for the Menai crossing. I note that the Burns commission has received a request to look at different options. I have put forward an argument to that commission for reviving this scheme. Of course, the roads review's focus on the environment was mainly the basis for the announcement. But I have a copy here of the consultation on the options for what kind of bridge to construct and what route to follow, and it shows that the Welsh Government itself selected the scheme that would be most damaging in terms of the impact on biodiversity and the environment, and would create the biggest increase in traffic. And it shows too that smaller schemes would be more cost-effective, potentially.  I have to say that I had foreseen something simpler—the dualling of the Britannia, to all intents and purposes, with active travel routes.

So, I want the First Minister to look again at the original needs for the crossing and how to deliver them, and at the need to improve safety, opportunities for active travel, and the economic boost that comes from having a more resilient crossing—for delivering on the free port, for example. The roads review itself shows that a new bridge would deliver all of those benefits. And part of the work, Llywydd, which needs to be done urgently, is to look again at how we can deliver that in a way that has the least negative impact on the environment. Will the First Minister agree to do that?

Well, Llywydd, I recall the context at the time when the then First Minister said that we would be continuing with the third crossing across the Menai strait, because I was Minister for finance at that time, and the context was that of Wylfa B. And I remember everything that we discussed at that time with the company responsible for the Wylfa B project—whether it was possible to draw funding in for a third crossing, because there would be far more traffic flowing to Anglesey and off Anglesey. I also recall the discussions with the National Grid, and the original suggestion from the National Grid was to create a tunnel under the strait, and we were discussing with them whether it would be possible to use that funding to help with the cost of a bridge. So, the context has fundamentally changed, hasn’t it, because everything that was on the table with Wylfa B isn’t there now.

But what I can tell the Member today is what is set out in our plan. We say that we want to see options for a crossing of the Menai in a way that helps us in our effort to create a shift in the way in which people currently travel. We’ve asked Lord Burns and the commission looking into transport in north Wales to look at how we can do that and to make recommendations to Government on that basis. And that’s how we want to proceed. We are open to whatever Lord Burns recommends, and everything that was contained within the report that Rhun ap Iorwerth has referred to this afternoon is available to Lord Burns and the commission that he leads.

The national road traffic projections 2022 study, published by the UK Department for Transport in January, shows that road traffic in Wales and England could grow by as much as 54 per cent between 2025 and 2060, with a 22 per cent rise under the core scenario, and the most modest estimate being an 8 per cent increase. Despite this, under all the projections, emissions are projected to fall by as much as 98 per cent as motorists move towards greener vehicles. However, following publication of the Welsh roads review, your Government stopped or scrapped all but 17 of 55 road projects, including all but one of 16 projects in north Wales. Whilst I've long opposed the red route in Flintshire, many of these projects were badly needed, from work on the Menai crossing referred to, to the scrapping of plans to upgrade the A483 around Wrexham. And only yesterday, their council leader told me this was a broken promise, which had already cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, and the Welsh Government millions. What, if any, action will you therefore now take to ensure the well-being of future generations by planning ahead to meet the needs identified in the 2022 road traffic projections study?

Well, Llywydd, there are some basic things that the Member needs to take into account, particularly when he refers to the needs of future generations. The crisis of our time is a crisis of climate change, and it is those future generations, if we do not act now, which will be left with the consequences of our refusal to face up to that challenge. The roads review is the first root-and-branch review of road building in Wales for many generations. It challenges received wisdom on road building, but it needs to challenge that received wisdom because it is that received wisdom that has got us into the position we are in today. We have to reduce our carbon emissions. Transport makes up 15 per cent of our total emissions in Wales and it has been the most stubborn sector in reducing those emissions. That's why we have to face up to that fact and take the action that will leave those future generations in a better place than they would be. If we simply accepted those very challenging figures that Mark Isherwood set out in the opening of his supplementary question, are we prepared simply to see a future in which traffic goes on growing in that way and emissions go on growing alongside it? Well, this Government is not. That is why we have the roads review, and that is why, when it comes to schemes such as the Menai and such as Wrexham, we're not saying there isn't a problem, we're not saying there isn't something that needs to be done; we're simply saying that the plans of the future have to be based on our responsibilities to tackle that climate emergency, and simply carrying on with the solutions of the past is guaranteed to make that problem worse and not better. 

Fist Minister, you will, of course, be aware that for any projects that weren't given the green light by the roads review, the advice to local authorities has been to go back to the drawing board and to consider, in accordance with WelTAG 1, alternative measures to mitigate, for example, local problems of road safety. What specific help can Welsh Government provide to local authorities around this? And, most importantly, are there any plans to revise the criteria for the Welsh Government's road safety grant, for which evidence must be provided to show serious or fatal road traffic incidents before a local authority is able to gain financial assistance? 

Well, can I thank Vikki Howells for what is a very timely question. Llywydd, the road safety framework for Wales dates back as far as 2013, and, although there was a midway review of it in 2018, now is the time when we need to bring forward a new road safety strategy, one that will align with 'Llwybr Newydd' and the national transport delivery plan. And because the roads review is about reprioritising the investment we make on roads, it means that money that might have been spent on new roads can be reprioritised into improving existing road infrastructure, and, of course, that does include safety as well. When the Minister brings forward the new road safety document, then reviewing grant criteria will be developed alongside that new strategy, and I know that the Minister's officials are very happy to discuss specific schemes with local authorities in that context.