Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 22 October 2019.
I thank the First Minister for that answer. Now, First Minister, as you're aware, last week, Hi-Lex Cable System Company announced that it was going to close its factory, with the loss of 125 well-paid, highly skilled jobs as a consequence of a forecast of sales lost due to Brexit, as the Swindon Honda plant is going to shut consequently. Now, what we have here are high-skilled, well-paid individuals who are working in the locality, and what we want now is to actually ensure that we attract more inward investment and support local businesses so that we can use those skills. We want to ensure that those skills remain local, because if we want a diverse economy in Port Talbot, then we need to have that attraction and those skills retained. Can you give me assurances that you will work with local authorities and other partners to attract businesses to ensure that the skilled workforce remains, and if we need more skills, we develop those skills within Port Talbot to ensure that those businesses can work effectively there?