Part of 5. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:05 pm on 21 September 2022.
Thank you. I'll try and deal with each of those points. Our understanding is that 89 people were employed on the site, and given that it's our understanding that they've gone into administration and it's likely that there will be a site closure, they're all at risk of redundancy. My understanding is that a limited number of employees have been retained for a period of weeks to help support the closure of the business and remove stock onsite. For those who are not aware, Bearmach is an independent supplier of parts and accessories for Land Rover vehicles, and of course, there are still many of those in existence.
Working Wales is part of the Careers Wales service, so they've been onsite providing support to employees. We're also beginning to work with them—we understand there is some trade union membership there—to look at advice and guidance both by group and individual sessions. Some of the main levers of support that we can provide are through our ReAct Plus programme. That is available for people either affected by possible redundancy, or, in this case, a live redundancy situation. So, we're working with Jobcentre Plus and, indeed, Working Wales to provide tailored information, advice and guidance. It also provides a vocational training grant of up to £1,500 to help people whose jobs have been made redundant to potentially acquire new skills to allow them to re-enter the labour market, including alternative employment.
I should say, and I'll happily confirm this again, that if people want more information, they can contact Working Wales on 0800 0284844. So, if people haven't had direct contact, they can do on that number, and I'll send the number and those details across to the constituency Member as well. We also provide a range of other support in the area, including the business productivity enhancement programme. We're looking to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in the local area as well, so that there are, we hope, alternative sources of employment.
Part of my concern is that whilst the labour market is currently very tight, if the forecasts from a range of economists from the Bank of England are right, we could face a number of similar situations facing the economy in the coming weeks and months. But, I'd be more than happy to talk to the Member even after this question, because I think this will be a moving picture.