Kasai

Part of 3. Topical Question 1 – in the Senedd at 3:02 pm on 26 February 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 3:02, 26 February 2020

Can I thank Dawn Bowden for her questions and assure her that, through not just Welsh Government, but our partners in the Wales automotive forum, we are assessing every opportunity for existing automotive businesses and for emerging businesses in the automotive and mobility sector? Last autumn, I hosted an automotive summit, which looked at opportunities for Wales. That was incredibly well attended and we'll build on it by hosting the manufacturing summit on 2 April in Venue Cymru. The automotive sector will be present and we will be examining the very latest opportunities and, indeed, threats to the sector in Wales and across the UK.

It's worth saying that, over the last five years, automotive companies in Wales, including those supporting the supply chain, have had help to the tune of £200 million in supporting their growth and in supporting the 12,000 jobs that are contained within the sector. It's also fair to say that there has been, until very recently, a renaissance in UK car production. For a variety of reasons, the sector right now is facing considerable difficulty and transformation. We're assisting in the transformation through focusing our resource on those automotive companies that clearly have the best prospects of succeeding in the transition to low- and zero-emissions vehicles. And we have an incredibly strong record in attracting investment, including from Ineos Automotive most recently. As part of the support that we were offering to Kasai we, through the Wales automotive forum, introduced the company to Ineos and to Aston Martin Lagonda and to others in the hope that alternative work may be secured in order to avoid closure. Unfortunately, the bridge between the closure of Honda and the work that would come from other manufacturers was so great as to necessitate the announcement that has been made recently. However, the company is not due to close, if it decides to proceed with closure, until July 2021. This gives a significant amount of time for us to assist, through our regional response teams, through Careers Wales and so forth, every single individual that might be affected. But it also gives us, during the consultation period, an opportunity to say to the company once again, 'Reconsider the announcement. Please, if there is any way possible, maintain your operations in Merthyr.'