Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:04 pm on 17 November 2020.
Minister, amongst the strong areas in Wales in terms of steel tradition is Newport, of course, with Llanwern—excuse me—and Liberty Steel. We did have Orb, but, sadly, that's now gone, and there's a host of smaller players. So, I would like some reassurance today that that steel tradition and those steel sites will have a strong part in the future of steel in Wales and the UK. There are a lot of skills and experience in the area, currently employed and recently made redundant, that could be utilised. And, of course, Liberty Steel, for example, has some very clear ideas on green steel and how that might be taken forward, as well as some ideas on the energy aspects.
You have already referred, Minister, to—if we are going to have a distinct Tata Steel operation in the UK—the need for some of the existing functions, such as research and development, procurement, sales and, indeed, some of the digital aspects, to be part of that distinct UK operation. Some of that has been concentrated in the Netherlands. Llanwern has hosted some of those functions. I'm just wondering if you could say a little bit about the role that Llanwern might play in hosting those functions again, and about some of the implications for training in the area, and the role that organisations like Coleg Gwent and the University of South Wales might play.