Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 15 May 2024.
Janet Finch-Saunders
Conservative
2:01,
15 May 2024
North Wales relies on buses, certainly in Aberconwy, they do—one in five households do not have access to a car, with four in every five bus users not having access. Clearly, maintaining our bus system is crucial. However, I am concerned about the financials for the franchising model, which, I know, are still under development, and, indeed, we took evidence last week in our climate change committee. Indeed, there are suggestions that London-style franchising will cost at least £300 million a year. You propose to adopt an incentive-based gross cost model, for which Transport for Wales will pay operators a fixed sum to run specific services, and this will keep the revenue in-house. However, it will also mean that TfW is obliged to run services that are at risk of decreasing passenger numbers and thus fund non-financially viable services.
Now, TfW is known well to this Chamber for its performance in the rail system. As the chief executive of TfW, James Price, has outlined, future funding will be a challenge. Now, again, last week, as we were in the climate change committee with those actually working on the franchise model in England, several concerns were raised as to whether TfW even has the capacity, the resources or the ability to carry out the franchising model in Wales, but also within the timescales set. So, how will you, Minister, work with Transport for Wales to ensure that it does have the resources to make the franchise scheme a success? And what additional funding are you planning to transfer in order to ensure that this is not a failed exercise? Diolch.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
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Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
