Department of Work and Pensions Jobs at Treforest

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:41 pm on 9 May 2018.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 3:41, 9 May 2018

Thank you for those questions and, actually, one of the deep ironies of this is the fact that some of the places where jobs will be moving from are actually strategic hubs within our Valleys taskforce. So, it is just a completely nonsensical argument that the UK Government is in any way trying to support what we're trying to achieve for our Valleys communities.

You're right as well that the news first surfaced as a leak. Welsh Government had no notice of it, so the leader of the house was very clear that she was extremely disappointed that the UK Government didn't consult with the Welsh Government to seek alternative solutions prior to making decisions. And at every point she's been very clear that she's keen that her officials work with the UK Government to explore alternative solutions, including, for example, co-location where feasible with the Welsh Government. But, again, these offers to help and work collaboratively have not been taken up. 

The transport issues are very real in terms of people being able to move from your community to Treforest to take up their job. We've just had the statement on the decision of Virgin to close their Swansea plant, and offer some people jobs in Manila. Well, Treforest might as well be Manila for some people who are in this situation, because it's just completely unfeasible. 

I know that Julie James has offered to have some discussions looking at things like community transport options, and so on, but again these are just small efforts that we can make to try and make the situation better. But, at every stage, we have opposed this move.