2. Urgent Question: Tata Steel

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 12 July 2016.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 2:35, 12 July 2016

Can I thank the Member for her questions, and say that, with the alternative still on the table and under consideration, I wish to continue talking with some of those potential buyers? And that’s why I’ll be talking with one today, and why I wish to also speak urgently with Tata Steel themselves.

Backing, any backing, will be conditional on long-term job security, and, insofar as the supply chain is concerned, the Member is right to identify unease and uncertainty in the supply chain, and that’s why the business and supply chain has established a business and supply executive team, comprising of Industry Wales, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Welsh Government and Business Wales, who are all contacting and, where appropriate, exploring assistance to supply chain companies. There’s no doubt that this is a very difficult time for many engaged in the supply chain. The team is continuing to contact companies and offer support, and the team is focused on those companies with the highest value orders with Tata, including also the work of the Tata Steel taskforce, which has been discussing the growing impact of the situation on the supply chain in general.