Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:38 pm on 9 May 2018.
I think the DWP's intentions for this relocation have been well known for some time, but it was due to a leak that we knew about the proposed site—it's only now just been confirmed. It's clear that, under this proposal, in my constituency alone, we're going to be losing more than 250—260 jobs, in fact—from Merthyr, to Treforest. And I'd reiterate exactly what Hefin and John have already said about that. Because, although most of these jobs are not being lost to the organisation, they are being relocated, and the towns that they are being relocated from will be hit economically, without any shadow of a doubt. You cannot take 260 jobs out of a town like Merthyr and expect there to be no impact at all.
Even though relocation is being offered to staff, for many, that's not going to be an option, because of the additional travelling times and costs involved in the move, and the difficulties that that's going to present for those with caring responsibilities, for example. And I've already had representations from constituents, saying that they're not going to be able to move for those reasons. And, indeed, the DWP themselves have identified to the Public and Commercial Services Union that at least 600 of those staff are going to be what they call 'outside mobility'; in other words, those are the ones that are not going to be able to be redeployed—600 staff are not going to be able to be redeployed. So, we would obviously be interested to know what's going to happen to them.
Like Hefin, I was also astounded to see the letter from the DWP to AMs whose constituencies are affected—they did get my name right, at least—saying that the move supports 'Our Valleys, Our Future', and that these would be bringing jobs to the Valleys. I've written back to the DWP to advise them—