A UK government minister has claimed an "obsessive ideology" is damaging transport in Wales, despite it missing out on billions worth of transport funding from the UK government. Richard Holden, parliamentary under secretary of state for roads and local transport, said his party "need to hold the Welsh Government's feet to the fire" on transport issues.
Speaking at a panel to the Welsh Conservative Party conference, Mr Holden said the Welsh Government needed a "change of heart" He said road infrastructure and maintenance needed to improve, adding: "The Welsh Government do get the Barnett consequentials from all of our road building programmes from the Potholes Fund" but said they "don't know what they're going to do with it here."
Read more: The M4 in south Wales: A 'joke' of a road that seems destined to remain a problem
The Welsh Government receives money as part of a block grant from HM Treasury, which increases when a department spends money on a project only affecting England. As roads are devolved, the Welsh Government receives money when projects like the England-only Potholes Fund go ahead.
But Wales has has missed out on around £6bn of funding due to HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail being classed as "England and Wales" projects despite none of the tracks of either being in Wales. The Senedd recently unanimously passed a motion, which was supported by Tory MSs included, calling on the UK Government to reverse this.
Mr Holden continued: "We cannot allow an obsessive ideology to hold the Welsh people back, whether that’s in south Wales with the M4 or the massive corridor across north Wales all the way to Holyhead." He also called for the north of Wales to be "plugged into our second big growth area - Manchester, Liverpool, and the north-west of England."
He acknowledged the importance of roads and rail, but also said of aviation and the handling of Cardiff Airport: "You can see in Teesside where a relatively small airport has been successful, where mayor Ben Houchen has turned that around by having a very pro-business approach rather than having it driven by a constantly questioning political ideology. What people really want is opportunity for themselves, their families and their local communities."
He was joined on the panel by Wales' shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar MS, who said the Welsh economy needed "proper support" to thrive. She said the Welsh Government were "so lazy when it comes to policy" despite being "all great at giving it the spiel."
Acknowledging the importance of hitting net zero targets, Ms Asghar criticised the Welsh Government's roads review which saw almost all major upcoming roads projects scrapped, saying: "Even if hypothetically public transport became as good as London where you have a bus every three minutes… you still need mobility and mobility will have to be reliant on roads."
Ahead of the panel, she said: "Mobility is essential to any economy, yet the Welsh economy will continue to suffer due to Labour’s mismanagement. Labour’s transport priorities are not the people’s priorities.
"The Welsh people want an M4 relief road, the Welsh people want a functional railway service. What the Welsh people don’t want is £200 million spent on a failing airport."
Welsh Government deputy climate minister Lee Waters, responsible in part for transport, has warned transport in Wales will get worse in the next five years - but he pins this on the UK Government and Network Rail for giving Wales the UK's second-worst settlement for the upcoming funding period from 2024 to 2029.
In a speech earlier in April, he said: "The effect of this will be a managed decline of the railway in Wales... It will take the rail network 10-15 years to recover from this set-back." On the topic of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail funding, he said: "Not only have the UK Government consistently short-changed Wales when it comes to investing in the rail infrastructure they have responsibility for but by denying us a spending share of investment in England they are preventing us from delivering our own devolved responsibilities."
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