Lee Waters: Thank you. The Welsh Government continues to take a cross-Government approach to support the steel industry and protect the jobs of Welsh steelworkers. We have, over the last three years, provided significant investment to support the industry in key areas, including skills development, environmental improvements, and research and development.
Lee Waters: Last year, TrawsCymru carried a record 2.5million passengers. We have made significant improvements to the network of services over the last five years, and the pioneering weekend free travel remains popular since being introduced in July 2017.
Lee Waters: The current legislation that places duties on local authorities is generally working well. However, we are aware of increasing concerns for post-16 learners where local authorities have discretion over travel arrangements. We will take forward a review to identify all the issues involved and how to resolve them in a cost-effective and sustainable way.
Lee Waters: People and businesses of Ynys Môn have benefited from a number of EU-funded schemes such as apprenticeships, skills for employers and employees and expanding Môn’s horizons. Since 2007, some 1,400 jobs have been created, over 2,100 people have been helped into employment, and over 9,000 qualifications have been achieved.
Lee Waters: I do find it curious that the thrust of the criticisms is that we haven't done enough to protect the company, and then he questions the support that we have given. The two pieces of support we've directly given—the £5 million grant was for a specific scheme to help them develop and become more resilient, and the food business investment grant, which was carried out in line with due...
Lee Waters: Thank you for the questions. We're as confident as we can be, but, obviously, that depends on all other things being equal, and all of the things are not equal. We know that the industry is under considerable strain. The company has faced some issues unique to the company, but also faced the issues that others are facing. The volatility of the exchange rate since the UK Government failed to...
Lee Waters: Thank you for those questions. I share the Member's concern and frustration, but one could be forgiven for thinking, from listening to the tone of his contribution, that this was somehow the fault of the Welsh Government. This is a commercial company. The Welsh Government has bent over backwards to help this company, as have the company's own commercial lenders. The majority of the funding...
Lee Waters: Diolch yn fawr iawn. Clearly, it's very disappointing news that the company has gone into administration, and this is distressing for the workforce and the wider supply chain, and our thoughts are with those affected. We understand some 331 people have been affected: 247 of them were laid off yesterday and the remainder retained for a short time. As I say, our thoughts are with them, as is...
Lee Waters: I'll come to that, if I may, as I make some progress. So, we've now got the first set of active travel maps for our larger towns and villages, and we've got a reasonable amount of capital funding to start building and improving those routes. And as the Assembly's economy committee has pointed out, these first iterations of maps are imperfect. I'm determined that the next versions of the...
Lee Waters: —which will help make active travel a realistic option for most people. Let me just finish this section and I will. It requires councils to consult with people on routes they'd like to appear over the next 15 years across their communities, to safely connect them by foot and by bike to everyday destinations. Councils will then enshrine their desired routes onto an integrated network map,...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. May I congratulate David Rees, Leanne Wood and Vikki Howells for bringing forward this debate? As their motion recognises, there is significant potential in the network of historic industrial infrastructure across Wales, in particular the old railway tunnels across the south Wales Valleys, that can serve the communities that surround them once again, providing...
Lee Waters: Transport for Wales is assisting the Welsh Government in reviewing how bus services could be improved in the future to ensure that communities across Wales benefit from a modern, integrated public transport service. We are also bringing forward legislative proposals for improving how bus services are planned and delivered.
Lee Waters: Well, I'd be interested in any evidence that Russell George has that those decisions he cited had any impact at all. I think he's kicking sand in our eyes here, trying to deflect from the blame of his own UK Government's failure to intervene to help the steel industry, creating huge uncertainty in our trading environment by openly promoting the prospect of a 'no deal' Brexit, which would...
Lee Waters: Well, I think a number of those questions have already been answered in previous answers, so I won't rehearse them. In terms of the general picture of the changes in the economy and the decline of some manufacturing firms—the Member mentioned Schaeffler in my own constituency and Ford—we are facing, in many ways, a perfect storm, and I do hate the overused metaphor, but the changes in the...
Lee Waters: Thank you. I can confirm that Tata have not asked for any assistance from the Welsh Government, though we are working closely with them to make sure that any assistance the workforce needs is provided. It is worth pointing out that the uncertainty of the market that Tata's operating within has been a contributing factor for their decision to close the plant. If we are to leave the European...
Lee Waters: Thank you for the question. As I say, we have been in close discussions with the company and with the trade unions. My colleague Ken Skates spoke to the company immediately on the news breaking and officials have since been to the local plant to meet with the team there. We are reassured that the existing workforce will be fully redeployed, as we understand it, within Tata—that no worker...
Lee Waters: Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government has engaged with the company to understand what this announcement means and how we can best support those affected.
Lee Waters: —£27 million in the Rhondda constituency alone from the metro, which you did not acknowledge. The foundational economy fund, I’m confident, will have projects in the Rhondda. The transport-to-work pilot is specifically in Rhondda Fach and the empty homes fund is also open to the Rhondda. So, I don’t think that it is a fair representation of the work that we’re doing in your...
Lee Waters: I won't, I'm afraid. But let me just tell you some of the things we are doing in the Rhondda—[Interruption.] I've got 30 seconds left, Leanne Wood, and I've agreed to meet you tomorrow to discuss in detail some of the issues you have raised. I don't have time, I'm afraid, but we are spending £27 million on the Rhondda—
Lee Waters: Diolch, Llywydd. I don't have an enormous amount of time to respond, so I won't be able to respond to each of the comments, but I'm happy to have further discussions with anybody who wishes. I'll try and address some of the points that have stuck with me. To begin with, Russell George's challenge on the target of 7,000 people into employment. I'm not sure where he gets his figures from. He...
