Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:17 pm on 18 September 2019.
I'm grateful for the involvement of Welsh Government and, indeed, of course, the strong campaign by the trade unions on behalf of the workforce and grateful for the commitment that's been received that there will not be any compulsory redundancies but redeployment, possibly, in the Tata plants at Llanwern and Port Talbot. But the primary campaign, of course, is to keep the plant open and I'd be grateful for some insight into Welsh Government's activities in terms of working with the trade unions and workforce, with industry, and with UK Government to look at the possibility of the necessary investment, which, I think, Tata put at £50 million, to keep the plant open and equip it to provide electrical steel for electric cars, which we all expect to be produced en masse in the very near future. I said at First Minister's questions that the whole history of that plant and the workforce has been about adaptability, adapting to change, developing new skills, new methods of production, new products. So, the history of innovation and adaptability and flexibility is there, which, I think, is very promising for the future. The missing ingredient, really, is the necessary investment, and that's where I'd really like assurance from Welsh Government that you are working with the workforce, the trade unions, UK Government and industry to facilitate and encourage that investment.