Member

Even the Government’s own figures are inconsistent. Ministers speak of a £14 billion plan, yet Transport for Wales estimates that the pipeline of projects the UK Government say they would support would cost around £10 billion. Let us look at what actual money has been committed. So far, £445 million has been committed over 10 years, with no guarantees of further funding—that is £44.5 million per year. To put that into perspective, each of our local governments has a far bigger budget than that to run our local services with. We need an urgent step change in funding for Wales to deliver the railway investment we need, and I hope the UK Government will work constructively with the new Welsh Government to deliver it. I am afraid that commitments on paper mean nothing without the funding that makes them real. The new Welsh deputy Minister for transport has already reached out to the UK Government on this issue, and I am sure the Minister will respond positively.