Julie James AM, Minister for Housing and Local Government
This statement is to inform members that Mr John Lloyd Jones OBE will continue as interim Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) until November 2020. Mr Lloyd Jones’ term was due to end on 31 March 2020.
Following the recent public appointments exercise, I have decided not to appoint a long term chair at this time. I am acutely aware of the challenges of climate change and wish to place greater emphasis on the need for future infrastructure decisions to be more closely aligned with our decarbonisation objectives. For that reason, I plan to re-advertise with more prominence given to this aspect of the role.
I am very grateful to Mr Lloyd Jones for accepting this extension to his term as interim Chair which will enable him to oversee the completion of the commission’s second annual report. By that time the public appointment exercise to recruit a substantive chair will have concluded.
NICW published its first annual report in November 2019. The report set out its priorities for investigation over the following year. The commission is currently engaging with stakeholders and calling for evidence on 10 key issues relating to digital communications, energy and transport.