Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:57 pm on 16 December 2020.
Well, can I thank Andrew R.T. Davies for his questions? I'd share the sentiments that he has expressed regarding how distressing this news is for affected workers. Of course, we do have the additional £40 million available for the COVID commitment. It's specifically designed to help people who are in a position of those at the company right now, and that COVID commitment includes a significant increase in spending on schemes such as the personal learning accounts and the apprenticeship programme. We also have the regional response teams that are available to support workers, to try to identify alternative work as well for those that are affected, who have a similar skill set to those opportunities that may exist right now.
In terms of the logistics sector, as a whole, the logistics sector has struggled with staff retention and recruitment in recent years, and I think it's fair to say that, according to reports, the sector has struggled to find people with the appropriate skills. So, there are opportunities out there. It would appear to us—I can't comment on some of the allegations that are being made regarding the management of this particular company in recent times—but it would appear to us that what has affected this company is isolated to this company, and it is not an infection, if you like, of the whole of the logistics sector. Of course, we have teams in the Welsh Government though that are looking very closely at this particular company, to ascertain whether there are any common themes in terms of some of the problems that they've experienced. If so, we'll work with the likes of Logistics UK, representative bodies, to ensure that the Welsh Government, alongside the UK Government, because this is a UK-wide sector experiencing UK-wide challenges in terms of skills retention, to make sure that we are all providing the support that's necessary to give the sector some resilience during an incredibly difficult period.