Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 9 December 2020.
Minister, Helen Mary Jones rightly pointed out that Trostre and the Port Talbot works are linked very closely; they're both members of the Tata group. Trostre is a downstream client of Tata Port Talbot, and therefore the future of Port Talbot is clearly linked to the future of Trostre in that sense. You've indicated that you have had discussions with Ministers, but when we raised this at the announcement Tata made of the separation of the UK steel element from Tata Europe, the First Minister indicated he had asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister, or a telephone discussion. Are you aware whether that discussion has taken place with the Prime Minister, and have you had discussions with the business Secretary of State, Alok Sharma, to look at a future for steel? Decarbonisation is one agenda, but arc furnaces will result in Port Talbot losing large amounts of employees and jobs—not just direct employees, but also contractors.