Cabinet minister for enterprise, connectivity and energy, Adam Price, put on a star turn at the inaugural Highways Live Cymru event, setting out three promises on Welsh roads policy that were hugely well-received by the industry audience.

In a wide-ranging and often moving speech, Mr Price committed the government to new road building where the economic case stands up, more focus on asset management and preventative maintenance and inward investment in Welsh supply chains through government procurement.

First promise

His first key promise was a seeming reversal of former policies under the Labour Government. While the previous administration had not completely dropped new road building, it had drawn back from new projects in light of the net zero agenda.

Mr Price said: 'Where we need to, we will build. For a while, the debate of roads in Wales became about whether to build at all. Our starting point is different. Public transport, walking, and cycling are essential. So is the road network.

'A road is a piece of infrastructure and we'll judge it the way that you would judge any other, by what it gives back to the economy, to the community it serves, and to the environment we all have to protect. If a scheme passes a test, we will build it. If it fails, we'll say so and move the money to something that will pass the test. That's not ideology. That's the arithmetic of progress.'

Linking this policy to the wider economy, he noted that the Welsh government has set itself a 10-year economic mission aiming to halve the 15% productivity gap between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.

Second promise

Mr Price said the second promise was 'to look after what we already have, because the most valuable roads in Wales are the ones we already have'.

In a nod to what has become something of an industry saying, Mr Price commented: 'No minister ever had a ribbon on a re-surfacing scheme. Maybe we need to change the mindset...The cheapest resilience is the kind you planned two years ago.'

He added: 'If I'm honest, for too long, maintenance has been the easiest budget to cut. Nobody notices for three winters, then the fourth winter comes along. And many of our assets were designed for a climate we no longer have, and in a country that is mostly wet, most of the time, resilience is core to the job.

'Not repairing the damage after the storm, but finding the weak points before it, and fixing them as part of the renewal work we were going to do anyway.'

Third promise:

Mr Price pledged to use procurement to direct more work to Wales-based companies.

'Whenever possible, we will grow and back our own. Procurement is the most powerful industrial policy a small nation has at its disposal. We intend to use it to its full, to build wealth capabilities, so that more of that value stays here in Wales, on merit, because we know we have our skills and experience. I want 'made in Wales' to mean the same as 'made in Switzerland': a small country that produces extraordinary work.'

The Plaid Cymru Government's plan is to increase the share of public contracts awarded to Wales-based firms from around 55% to at least 70%.

In concluding his speech, Mr Price made a final emotional salute to the Welsh industry representatives gathered in the room.

'A road is a promise. If you set out, you will arrive. The ambulance will come. The child will reach the school, and the shift will start on time. The people in this room keep that promise every day of the year. We intend to keep ours.'