Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on investing in cross-border transport infrastructure.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales and I have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues about connectivity within Wales and between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom, which is one of my top priorities. In addition, earlier this month the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales participated in a cross-border transport forum involving representatives from North Wales and North West England and, separately, met with Sir Peter Hendy, the Chair of the Union Connectivity Review.

On 10 March, the UK Government published the Interim Report of the Union Connectivity Review. The report highlights the strategic importance of cross-border travel to and from Wales and draws attention to four Welsh transport routes in particular which will be further considered as part of the development of the Final Report. Wales will benefit from some of the £20m committed on the back of the Interim Report to explore the development of potential projects.