Speaking in questions to the First Minister this afternoon, William Graham sought assurances that the Welsh Government has no plans to introduce toll charges on new and improved transport routes:
‘With a large fall budgeted for the Welsh Government’s transport capital expenditure, transport experts have mooted additional sources of funding such as ‘Pay as you drive’ charges and PFI schemes. The First Minister’s response that the Welsh Government has no plans to introduce tolls on improved routes such as the A465 Heads of the Valleys road or the new bypass linking the road through Llanwern steelworks and the Southern Distributor Road in Newport is welcome, but the case remains for examining innovative ways of funding new schemes such as Public Private Partnerships.’
The Shadow Minister for Local Government continued:
‘The Welsh Government must be open about how future transport schemes are to be funded and project managed to avoid a repeat of the overspends and works slippage that have dogged major transport projects in Wales over the last ten years. Nobody wants to see a repeat of the poor management and lax financial control that the Wales Audit Office identified in their 2011 report “Major Transport Projects in Wales”. In the worst case, owing to the domino effect of delays the A465 Heads of The Valleys Road will have exceeded its initial timetable by 11 years with an overspend of nearly £500million if completed by the Welsh Government’s estimated 2020 finish date.’
