Speeches by Ranger.

“Yes, on a continuation of that point. Lots of Transport for Wales assets are actually in England. I am thinking about Chester station, Shrewsbury station, the Shrewsbury-Chester line and the Marches line, which are key connection routes. The Transport for Wales brand, as you have highlighted, is quite a strong brand in…”

“It has been good to see that there has been—as you have already alluded to—some great partnership working already happening. I am thinking of the developments happening in my area in north-east Wales, but also in south Wales and all the investment that is going on. It does rely on partnership working, and there is pote…”

“As you said, and as we heard from the panel before, Scottish Ministers will enjoy significant powers of direction under clause 8 of the Bill. But in the context of the current settlement, or in the Bill as it stands, is there any scope for Welsh Ministers to have some powers of direction?”

“What outcomes would devolution of rail enable that could not be achieved in Wales through the current settlement? What difference would it make?”

“Thank you for joining us today. The Welsh Government have long called for greater devolution of rail policy. Does the Railways Bill as drafted progress that ambition?”

“As you said, and as we heard from the panel before, Scottish Ministers will enjoy significant powers of direction under clause 8 of the Bill. But in the context of the current settlement, or in the Bill as it stands, is there any scope for Welsh Ministers to have some powers of direction?”

“Is that due to decisions made 20-odd years ago when devolution of rail happened more widely across the UK?”

“It has been good to see that there has been—as you have already alluded to—some great partnership working already happening. I am thinking of the developments happening in my area in north-east Wales, but also in south Wales and all the investment that is going on. It does rely on partnership working, and there is pote…”

“Thank you very much.”

“That sounds interesting and really good.”

“Again, it links back to prisoners moving around the prison estate. They might have had education or skills training in the prison, but they have been moved around and those employment opportunities might not present themselves. It is the linkage of records again; we could have provided all the skills, education and tra…”

“That is good to hear. That places duties on public services—prison, probation and others—to co-operate in the prevention of homelessness, but should the Home Office, DWP and police also be included in that Bill, Minister?”

“Is that due to decisions made 20-odd years ago when devolution of rail happened more widely across the UK?”

“Thank you. To wrap up this housing section, we have heard that engagement between prison resettlement teams and local authority housing teams is often inadequate. Quite often, you have people moving around between different prisons and records getting lost, and then a problem with rehousing as people leave prison. This…”

“Thank you. I am sure we can pass that contact on and let you have those details if it would help. Let me move on to employment; again, we touched on this when we were talking about education and skills to allow prison leavers to get meaningful employment outside of prison. Minister, how are you making it easier for bus…”

“Ian, do you have anything to add on that point about bringing those UK Government areas into the Bill in Wales?”

“Thank you for joining us today. The Welsh Government have long called for greater devolution of rail policy. Does the Railways Bill as drafted progress that ambition?”

“What outcomes would devolution of rail enable that could not be achieved in Wales through the current settlement? What difference would it make?”

“Yes, on a continuation of that point. Lots of Transport for Wales assets are actually in England. I am thinking about Chester station, Shrewsbury station, the Shrewsbury-Chester line and the Marches line, which are key connection routes. The Transport for Wales brand, as you have highlighted, is quite a strong brand in…”

“Jamie, I am thinking of north-east Wales, with lots of co-ordination with Merseyrail and Liverpool about links with Chester and the whole Liverpool-Manchester link, and how that is expanding. Some great co-operation and partnership working are going on there. Will the Bill make that more complicated or easier? The devo…”