7. Plaid Cymru Debate: Bus emergency scheme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:56 pm on 22 March 2023.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 5:56, 22 March 2023

Thank you. [Laughter.] I genuinely feel more like a citizen of Wales because of that universal provision, but the challenge the Minister has is to work over the next few months—and he is working hard with those bus operators and with local authorities—to actually use this very short breathing period to find a way forward that is sustainable. I don't envy him his task in that. 

Let me just make a couple of points, because we did have a long intervention, with your discretion, Llywydd. Long term, we do have to get on with reversing this disastrous deregulation, because at least then we can have the democratic argument with people who have a stake directly in deciding where services go. Long term, we have to do that.

Long term, we have to find a more sustainable funding package as well. But do you know also what we need to do? Use the buses. Because there's the biggest challenge of all, and it's not just for the public out there, because if you demand a public service and buses that are only for poor people to use, you will end up with a poor service. It's for all of us—every one of us, myself included with my bus pass—to get on those buses now and use them, because that's the way you deliver a very secure future for buses—not just trains, but buses—is if every one of us actually gets on them as well, otherwise, if we don't use it, we will lose it.