Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Could I begin by thanking Members for their contributions today and for their continued interest in this significant subject? I’d also like to declare my membership of Unite the Union at this stage and suggest: at the outset, let’s just agree, everybody across this Chamber, that nobody should do or say anything to undermine the future of Welsh steel or steelworkers’ jobs. For those that depend on steel—Tata workers, their families, people in the supply chain and, of course, towns and villages around sites across Wales—the last 12 months have been nothing less horrendous, and it’s my belief that it’s our duty to bring hope and surety where there’s fear, not to sustain it by fuelling mistrust or by turning people against one another.

I think it’s fair to say we’ve come a long way since last January. An enormous amount of work has been undertaken in that time by workers, by Welsh Government, by trade unions, by management at the plant, and by partners right across the sector, but we are not out of the woods yet. As the leader of the Conservative party said, this is still a sensitive period. However, thanks to the significant financial contributions by this Welsh Government and as a result of the turnaround plan that is being delivered at Port Talbot, in particular, there is hope once more.

As soon as Tata announced planned redundancies, it was the Welsh Government, working with trade unions, that rallied partners together to support those affected. As soon as Tata announced their proposed sale of the UK operations, it was this Welsh Government that made an offer of £60 million of support for the company through a combination of loans and grants. And as part of that package before Christmas, I announced £4 million of investment in skills across Tata’s Wales operations, and a further £8 million towards the £18 million investment at Port Talbot’s power plant to enable more efficient operations, reduce energy costs and, of course, to cut emissions. In addition, I also announced proposals for a new research and development base in Swansea, because our focus has always been on ensuring a sustainable steel-making presence here in Wales. The investments that we’ve announced to date are designed to enable real efficiencies to be delivered right across the Welsh plants, and to help safeguard jobs into the future, irrespective of future ownership. Because, as Lee Waters rightly said, automation and competition are the biggest challenges that we face in the fourth industrial revolution. We must transform those challenges into opportunities through R&D and modernisation.

In addition, a major element of any sustainable solution for steel in Wales was to solve the pension issue. That’s why I believe that the proposed agreement between Tata and the trade unions is a positive and significant step towards securing that sustainable future. It is important to remember, I believe, that the future of the British Steel pension scheme was an issue for all of those that expressed an interest in purchasing Tata’s operations in Wales. And whether or not workers accept the proposal that has been agreed is a decision for them to make.

Members will be aware—