Ken Skates: I would agree with the Member that everybody should be able to access a bank within a certain distance. This is something that we called on the UK Government to examine very carefully. I’ll come to the Griggs review shortly, but I think the Member is right in his assertion. Financial innovation and trends in society have clearly led to many branch closures. Many Members today have spoken of...
Ken Skates: Yes, of course.
Ken Skates: I believe that PPIW reports are normally published with access for Assembly Members, and certainly for Government Ministers, and the work will be undertaken, I believe, during the autumn, once early lessons from the operation of the development bank can be assessed. I think it will be an important and timely piece of work, but, as I say, it will need to take into account not only the...
Ken Skates: We welcome this afternoon’s announcement by the steel trade unions that their members have voted in favour of Tata Steel’s proposals to secure the future for its UK operations. This announcement is a significant step forward in securing a sustainable future for the UK businesses.
Ken Skates: I think it’s important to recognise the enormous step the workers have taken in voting the way that they have and I’d like to pay tribute to the employees of Tata in Wales and also to the trade unions who have conducted themselves on behalf of the workers over many, many months in the best possible way imaginable. It has been an incredibly difficult time. This is the latest, albeit very...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for her questions and contribution, but I do take issue with the demand that we, Welsh Government, should show leadership now and step up to invest in the sector? In December, we announced the first package of support that was being invested in our sites. That included £4 million investment in skills development—not just at one site, but at every single site across...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank the Member for his contribution. I will just point out that the fall in the value of the pound has actually impacted adversely on raw materials that have to be imported so, actually, the benefits are not as you would imagine. But I do welcome the collegiate approach from the leader of the opposition on this issue, and what he said about the need to avoid trench warfare. In...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for his questions, and also for recognising that the deal is indeed only possible today because of the investment and the leadership shown by Welsh Government over the past year and more? In terms of the question of ownership that the Member raises, the key to a prosperous and secure future for those Tata Steel plants lies in them becoming highly competitive, up there...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for her question? So, there are actually much wider implications for all industrial sectors, because procurement is a key issue in ensuring that the supply of Welsh steel is to a number of our major infrastructure projects coming up in the coming years. We need to ensure that there is demand for Welsh steel right across Wales, and across the UK. This is something that...
Ken Skates: Can I thank Hannah Blythyn for her questions? Shotton, like all other sites in Wales, is vitally important to the Welsh steel family, and that’s why I am pleased to be able to take forward work now on the potential support for a major capital expenditure programme at Shotton steelworks. I would also like to say that the steel unions at the Shotton plant, along with steel union...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank John Griffiths for his contribution and I agree entirely. I’d like to thank him for his consistent and passionate commitment to the plant in his constituency, as I’d like to thank all Members who represent areas that have steelworks within them. I do believe that we’ve only just scratched the surface of the potential of steel as a material. The amount of research and...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. On 18 October last year, I came to this Chamber and made a statement about the future of local bus services in Wales. The statement was made in the wake of some significant and high-profile business failures within the Welsh bus sector that had a significant impact on local bus services provided in Wales and in England. In response to these failures, I...
Ken Skates: So, on that basis, I am encouraging bus operators, local authorities, passengers and the people of Wales to join this national discussion about how we make sure that the people of Wales can keep moving well into the future.
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank Russell George for his questions and for his very generous acknowledgement of the success of the bus summit. I was very pleased to be able to invite along members of this Chamber, and I recognise the very great interest that Assembly Members have in the provision of local bus services. Indeed, I believe there are approximately nine speakers in this afternoon’s statement,...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank Dai Lloyd for his contribution and, again, I’d like to thank him for his support for our endeavour to develop a better, more integrated, more responsive bus network across Wales. I think a common theme emerging across the Chamber is the belief that deregulation in the mid 1980s was nothing but a disaster for local bus services. And whilst Welsh Government was not the...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank the Member for his questions. I would agree that we need something of a revolution rather than an evolution in the way that bus services are provided in Wales, now that we have the powers available to us to make the significant changes that are required in order to ensure that bus operators meet the expectations of passengers. For that reason, the consultation that will be...
Ken Skates: Could I thank Julie Morgan for her contribution? Julie Morgan is a great advocate for bus usage, not just in Cardiff North, but right across Wales, and I know she cares passionately about the sustainability of key local bus services. The planning of bus services and the bus network right across local authority areas is crucial in determining where to build not just commercial properties, so...
Ken Skates: Can I thank David Melding for his contribution? And I also recognise the importance of bus services to the sustainability of an integrated public transport system, and also to improving the environment in which we live. In terms of the future generations, the FG Bill—well, the FG Act—the commitments will emerge through the consultation. But I think, above all, we need to set an aspiration...
Ken Skates: Can I thank Jeremy Miles for his contribution and for his question? It is true that Transport for Wales could well manage a fully integrated transport system. It may well be that he’s been reading my mind, because that is exactly what I’ve been considering over the course of the past few months. Thanks also to Jeremy Miles for hosting what I believe was a very successful forum in Neath....
Ken Skates: May I thank Dafydd Elis-Thomas for his warmest of contributions? I’d like to say to the Member, and to all Members in this Chamber, that, as we progress with our proposals and with our work, I’ll make myself and my officials available for briefings to any Members who wish to know more about how we are changing the bus network across Wales and bus services right across the country. When...
