Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:30 pm on 4 July 2017.
Thank you for that answer, First Minister. As you know, the site that’s been identified by the MOJ is within the ownership of the Welsh Government, and lies next door to a housing estate, a residential care home, a GP resource centre, with four surgeries in there, and other businesses on that industrial estate. It also lies within the enterprise zone, which was established when the threat to Tata was raised last year, with the intention being to grow and invest in businesses. Now, I don’t believe that a prison would actually encourage that. For these businesses to grow, they actually want more space. They need larger units of 10,000 sq ft plus. I’ve met with local businesses and they want to grow, they want to stay, but if they see a prison coming, damaging their growth opportunities, they have told me they will leave Port Talbot and possibly even Wales. Will the Welsh Government reject any bid from the MOJ for that land, and instead invest in building these units, which can allow them to grow, and commit itself to that as it has done elsewhere in Wales?