Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 26 March 2019.
Well, Llywydd, I want to thank the Member for his recognition of the support that the Welsh Government has provided to Tata in his constituency in the difficult times that the steel industry has faced during this Assembly term. It's been a pleasure to have the opportunity to visit Tata Steel twice in recent months—on both occasions with the local Member. I've seen the report to which he refers, the BEIS Select Committee report published on 19 March. It is hard-hitting in what it says to the UK Government in relation to the steel sector. The report says that the sector itself presented the UK Government with a united front and an ambitious series of proposals, and that they were not only disregarded by the UK Government, but that they were misrepresented by that Government as well. I think that that is strong language from a select committee. We know how much the sector is frustrated by the UK Government's refusal to act, for example, in relation to electricity prices for heavy industry. Certainly, I give the Member an assurance that we will be in contact with the UK Government again, on the back of that select committee report, and on the back of everything that trade unions and the management of the Tata plant tell us that they need from the UK Government in order to secure that successful future.