2. What discussions has the Welsh Government held with Newsquest regarding public money that was used to establish the company's sub-editing centre in Newport? OAQ(5)0542(FM)[W]

We are in ongoing discussions with Newsquest regarding its recent and planned redundancies. Officials have received information from the company on current staffing levels at the site, and will use this information to determine if the terms and conditions of their grant have been breached.

Thank you for that response. Will you, therefore, confirm that you will actually try and recoup very penny if the full terms and conditions have been breached, and will you reconsider the way that you support the local press? This is a National Union of Journalists campaign, as you know, in terms of Local News Matters. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for the Welsh Government to establish an independent fund for independent news so that all companies could bid into that to support journalism through the medium of Welsh and English in Wales?

Well, the first thing I can say is that it’s right that we should pursue every penny if the grant terms and conditions have been breached. That much is true. Secondly, before looking at a fund, what we are going to establish is an independent forum for the media in order to consider the challenges over the ensuing years and to see in which way we can ensure that we have strong and robust local and national media in Wales.

First Minister, understandably, the staff who are at risk of redundancy in the Maesglas office at Newsquest are very worried. Along with the trade union, I’ve spoken to staff, who estimate there will be 10 fewer full-time equivalent roles at the end of the process, and that full-time, highly skilled jobs will be replaced by more administrative roles that will be part time. Newsquest say that they employ approximately 60 staff in Newport and centrally support the editorial and publishing teams across the organisation. Does the Welsh Government know how the figure of 60 staff equates to full-time roles in Newport, and what assurances has the Welsh Government received to ensure Newsquest is continuing to meet their obligations to their staff and the Government?

Well, we are aware of 14 planned redundancies. I can say, as I said last week, that we provided in 2015 £245,808 to Newsquest towards the creation of 50 jobs and the safeguarding of 15 jobs at Maesglas. That award was conditional on the jobs being in place until May 2020. The operation has exceeded that planned job creation target so far, but it’s important that the terms of the grant are met until May 2020. If they are not, we will claw the money back.

First Minister, I asked you the same question last week, on the same line regarding this sub-editing centre in Newport. When I asked this question, you confirmed that the grant, the money, in May 2015 was conditional on jobs being in place until May 2020—five years. So, it now appears that the staff at Newsquest in Newport were placed at risk of redundancies in November of last year. Can I ask the First Minister if the Welsh Government was aware of these redundancies last November, and, if so, what representations were made to the company at that time to remind them of the condition attached to the award of grant funding from this Assembly?

Well, as I said, the conditions of the grant have been met thus far, but the conditions have to be met until May 2020. If they are not, then we will seek to recoup the money. As far as officials are concerned, they have been in discussions for some time with Newsquest. As is customary in these situations, we look to see what help we can offer. But, let it be made very, very clear that, if the conditions of the grant are not met, then we will take action to recoup it.

I know that many of the journalists working at the sub-editing hub in Newport were from Cardiff, having already been made redundant by Trinity Mirror, which has also seen wave after wave of job losses. What more can the Welsh Government to do stop large private companies that run our local press titles decimating local news coverage still further? And does the First Minister know of any funding that is available for journalists who may wish, for example, to start up hyperlocal news websites?

Well, first of all, I can say that officials have provided the company with information on accessing the services of ReAct for redundant workers, and on the appropriate Careers Wales services. Business Wales is available in order to look at providing the kind of financial help that the Member for Cardiff North has mentioned. But there is no doubt that many of us fear that we will see a steady diminishing of both local news coverage and national news coverage across the whole of Wales, which is why the independent media forum has been set up. One of the objectives of that forum will be to look at ways of making sure that our people are properly informed and that they are not misled by reading papers that come from elsewhere.