2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 10 July 2018.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 2:35, 10 July 2018

Could we have a statement on the issue of British Steel pensions, which were swindled from workers by Celtic Wealth Management and their partners? I have raised this with the First Minister, but he seemed to fudge the response. We know that Celtic are not a financial advisory firm, so they will not be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and so to try and claim that the FCA are looking into this issue is not something that I accept. We know that the firm has been offering sports tickets to pension holders, to get them to take their pensions out of the British Steel pension scheme and the PPS. And there needs to be an investigation by the Welsh Government as to how this grant was given, on what premise it was given, and, since November, you've known about the problems that have emanated from this particular firm, and I would like to see an investigation carried out by the Welsh Government before we're waiting for more problems to emanate in relation to other pension holders in the Port Talbot area.

I'd also like to ask for another statement, with regard to your communications with the police in relation to the death of a young Sudanese man in Newport last week—Mustafa. Obviously, I understand that the law needs to be enforced, but when there is a serious incident such as this, resulting in a death, after or during an enforcement operation, we need to be thorough, and we need to ensure that, in future, incidents like this do not happen again. We don't want to see anybody die in this way. Whilst we do not know his immigration status, this man was employed and came to this country for a better life, and it should not have ended with his death. I know that immigration isn't within the confines of the Welsh Government's powers, but I really would urge you to assure the Welsh population, who have contacted me, who want to know what's happening in this regard, so that we don't see instances like this happen again.