Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:39 pm on 20 June 2018.
Because we've got great confidence in the ability and the quality and the expertise of the workforce in Wales who are employed in the contact centre sector. I should just inform the Member that the sector panels have been wound up—that includes the financial and professional services sector—with a new ministerial advisory board that has consolidated all of the sector panels into one board that provides advice and expertise.
Our intelligence regarding the contact centre sector comes from the Welsh Contact Centre Forum. They were not informed in advance, nor was the UK Government, nor was the local authority. And I do question whether the Member is suggesting that we should have had commercially sensitive information ahead of the announcement, and to have done nothing with it, because if we'd been aware that there was any suggestion of job losses in Cardiff, we would have acted on it immediately. It's for the business to determine whether or not to approach us with any concerns over future operations. That business did not approach us. I want to know whether it approached the trade unions, because my impression, based on discussions that I've had this morning, is that the answer is 'no'. Nobody was informed in advance of the announcement that jobs would be lost.
I would also reiterate the point that I made: that the sector as a whole is in an incredibly strong position in Wales as a direct result of the investments that Welsh Government has made and the support that the Welsh Government has been able to offer businesses, with 1,145 jobs in south Wales alone currently available in the sector and, by the end of this year, a further 800 jobs. What we wish to do now is, first of all, of course, try to prevent the jobs being lost from Barclays, but if we cannot do that, we wish to ensure that every single person affected by the decision gets an equal or better opportunity, either within Barclays in Cardiff or in an alternative and suitable place of employment. They deserve the very best and that's what Welsh Government is going to help give them.