Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 8 May 2018.
Can we have a debate on the announcement that the First Minister mentioned in his questions today, that the Department for Work and Pensions plans to close five offices across south Wales and centralise those jobs in one new build, in Treforest? The plans will affect jobs in Newport, Cwmbran, Caerphilly and Merthyr, as well as 714 staff working at the Gabalfa office, in my constituency of Cardiff North—1,700 jobs altogether. Does she agree that this will take public sector jobs away from many needy communities, and will impact unfairly on staff, in increasing travel time and costs, and it will particularly affect those with caring responsibilities? And, above all, it is not supporting the Valleys taskforce, as Fiona Jones from the DWP says in her letter to Assembly Members, because these are not new jobs, and they are being moved from many needy communities. So, could we have a debate on this very important issue?