3. Will the Minister make a statement in response to 2 Sisters Food Group's announcement of a consultation on closing its site in Llangefni? TQ720

Thank you for the question. The Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales and I met with the leader of the local authority this morning, once we were made aware of the deeply disappointing news. I recognise that it will be distressing for members of the workforce. Our officials are in contact with the company to try to understand the implications of the statement made today, and to offer any support we can to the workforce impacted by the announcement of the likely closure of the plant.

Thank you for that response. It's difficult to put in words how much of a blow this would be if the factory were to close. Over 700 people are working there, at the heart of Anglesey. A high percentage live very locally, close enough to walk to work. Losing those jobs would permeate through the whole community of Llangefni and beyond, and I'm thinking about everyone who has been impacted by this, the workers and their families, and, of course, I know many of them well.

A long list of reasons was given to me by the 2 Sisters chief executive for coming to this decision: Brexit, inflation, workforce shortages, COVID, energy prices. There were elements around the condition, the size, and the location of the factory itself too, he said. But, we can see that those overarching factors are ones directly under the control of UK Government, and we have to look to UK Government for a response here too. I've spoken to Isle of Anglesey County Council this morning. I know you've spoken with them too, and I look forward to all of us coming together in the coming days.

And, yes, we are calling for Welsh Government support in every way possible, seeking, of course, to avoid or minimise job losses, and thereafter, in the worst case, there will no doubt be an offer of a taskforce. The Prime Minister said this lunch time that the Department for Work and Pensions has procedures it can put in place. But, let's be quite straight here: with the scale of this, the timing, with a consultation to close in a matter of weeks, leaving hardly any time to seek alternatives, we're going to need a damn sight more than a taskforce and retraining for staff to look for other opportunities. We need jobs. We need investment in local businesses to grow in the food sector, in energy. We need support for businesses with energy costs. And we need the delivery of things that we've played our part in paving the way for as a community—in energy, the council and Stena's freeport bid. I will not accept the fate of Ynys Môn being just a holiday and retirement island. And that's not to knock tourism, which has a very important role to play, but a community totally reliant on that ceases to operate like a normal community.

But, at the heart of this are the people, my constituents, facing losing their work in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. So, will Welsh Government give that undertaking to support the workers and our community at this time, in every way, to provide support for families that will need it, and support for the council to deal with added pressure on services? And will Welsh Government work with and press on UK Government to address those issues that have proved to be so devastating here, and to co-operate to deliver solutions? This would be an appalling loss of jobs the day after workers were told, I understand, that all was good.

Thank you for the series of points made. I have the same understanding from conversations today that Brexit and the change in trading conditions is a material factor, as is inflation generally, and energy specifically. And, of course, there has been a change to the energy support for businesses, and that the increase in energy overheads is, again, a significant factor.

The point about investment in the site and, comparatively, the facility compared to other sites in the group is a matter for the business. They've made choices around site investment. But, all those points, Brexit, inflation and energy, are all matters where the UK Government have made choices, and they've been very clear, I think, that that's where they see the particular challenge.

You're right, though, that the nature and the way of the communication of the decision leaves a very, very short window. They've indicated that they expect to make a decision, and then if they're going to go ahead with the indication on closure, it would happen by the end of the financial year. That means that after the consultation is over there are literally a handful of weeks before that would happen. So, this is a very, very tightened timescale, and I'm concerned about a range of consequences from that. You're absolutely right; there are over 700 workers, many of whom are very, very local. What that means is that those people of working age don't have work, and the potential for people to stay on the island requires an economic future.

So, yes, I remain seriously interested in the work we will carry on doing to create a sustainable economic future for Anglesey and the immediacy of it. Because some of the things that we will talk about are thing that will happen in a period of years, not weeks. So, there's a challenge about what happens in the interim. So, yes, we will work with anyone and everyone to try to secure the best possible outcome. We want to see if it is possible to save the jobs. If it isn't possible to do that, what are the next-best alternatives? What will be the future of the site? What about the supply chain? These are all matters where there aren't answers now, but I'm more than happy to work with the Member and other elected representatives and the local authority in doing so, and that will mean working with the UK Government. We do need an honest reflection on why we're here and what it will require to try to maintain these jobs or have alternatives in terms of employment in the very near future.

Can I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for submitting today's topical question? I'd like to echo the comments made by the Member for Ynys Môn. First and foremost, it's devastating news for residents on Ynys Môn, in particular in Llangefni as well, where, as we heard, there are 730 jobs at serious risk at the 2 Sisters Food Group there. It's extremely serious, especially in the context of a number of pressures on Ynys Môn at the moment.

Rhun ap Iorwerth rightfully highlighted a question being raised today with the Prime Minister by Virginia Crosby MP, and the response in terms of the commitment for DWP to provide those procedures and support where it can do that. But also, of course, there's a crucial role for the Welsh Government to play here. I certainly support the calls for that cross-governmental working, whether it's local government or UK, working, of course, with you here as the Welsh Government. So, I'd be keen to hear more about your expectations for how that might work in practice.

My question, Minister, is: of course, there are plans and there are investments and there are opportunities that you have already identified for Ynys Môn over the coming years; will you today commit to accelerate some of those investments and opportunities and plans in light of today's announcement and in light of other pressures that Ynys Môn is experiencing, so that those residents, those people who experience that potential job loss have the assurance that, on the very near horizon, there are some good opportunities lined up for them?

We'll work at the fastest pace possible to deliver economic benefit to not just Ynys Môn but to every community in Wales. What I can't do, though, is to try to say that, in the period of weeks that there is available to us, we can fast-forward all of those investments. Some of them just won't be ready. If you think about Menter Môn and the work they're doing, I think there's a great future on the island, but you can't pretend that work is going to be available at the start of April or indeed that the workforce that work at 2 Sisters are going to be able to take up all of those jobs.

There will be a need to think about the training and the skills requirements to actually think about all the different jobs that are available. So, I'm afraid that the ability to backfill 700 plus jobs in this sector in a matter of weeks isn't something, to be honest, for me to claim that I could do. What I will do, though, is I will carry on doing what I said in response to Rhun ap Iorwerth, that is working with every partner to understand not just what has happened and why, but to make the case in the first instance to see if we can support and keep the jobs—that's the first line—and then if that isn't possible, what comes next, how do we work with the community, how do we work with our stakeholders.

It's a positive that the Member of Parliament raised this in House of Commons with the Prime Minister, but you actually need more than just raising the issue. You need to see what steps the business is prepared to take and what steps the UK Government is prepared to take. Because on the trading terms with the European Union, there was a choice made about that—a clear-sighted choice. On some of the challenges around inflation, on some of the challenges around the change to the energy support, these are active choices that were made and have real-terms consequences that we are seeing today, I'm afraid.

I was devastated to have a phone call at 9 o'clock as well from residents in Anglesey. I've been talking, obviously, with you, Minister, and I've also been talking with Unite the Union, who've been having talks as well with the workforce. I need to declare also that I am a member of Unite the Union. I should have declared that earlier as well when I had questions to the Minister for Social Justice. So, apologies for that.

The factory employs a lot of local people, as the local Member said, but also people in Bangor and Caernarfon as well, and people from eastern Europe, India and Africa that come and make their home at Bangor as well. I know when we were campaigning around the 2 Sisters factory in Flintshire, when it came to Brexit as well, people were there campaigning for Brexit, but they were saying then that, you campaign for this and the impact on workers coming from eastern Europe might mean that factory would close in the future, because they're propping up those jobs for local people as well.

These possibly 730 jobs are low-paid workers, and for me, I know it's been raised about providing industry and further work, but I'm really concerned about families, about the impact on the mental health and well-being, on the children, and everything for these low-paid workers. So, do Anglesey council need money to help currently to deal with this situation? I know you said the DWP will work with them, but you know, social security isn't very good through the DWP. Universal credit takes, what, six weeks before it gets through. They're going to need immediate and very quick help.

So, what can be done? I heard that there is a taskforce being set up, and I'd like to be a member of that as well, working with Unite the Union and the local Member, but they will need this immediate help, because they won't have money saved up. They won't have backup. So, just what you can do on that, please, Minister.

Thank you, and thank you for contacting me this morning. I should make this clear, Dirprwy Lywydd: when redundancy events take place, it is often the case there has been a conversation with the council, with other support officials, with Business Wales, sometimes the development bank, sometimes directly with teams of Welsh Government officials, in this case Lesley Griffiths in her role as Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales. The food division have contacts with this sector, and of course, during the pandemic, I spent more time than I'd wish to finding out more about this particular sector, because there were COVID outbreaks, and we looked at some of the challenges. So, the company are aware of the existence of the Welsh Government, the fact that we've been actively engaged around this company, and they knew how to contact people in both the food division and the economy department. What hasn't happened is there wasn't contact with the Welsh Government. The news this morning was a surprise. There was no prior warning or engagement with us.

I did take a call from Unite the Union about what was likely to happen today, and they are obviously concerned about the direct loss of jobs that is signalled in the announcement. They are concerned about the health impact on their members of a large-scale redundancy event. There is almost always a health consequence for the workforce and the surrounding community. They're concerned about what the redundancy terms will be, and the room that may or may not provide people to deal with both the shock of the loss of employment with the final pay packet, and the opportunities that do or don't exist to seek further work. There are broader points about the supply chain and all those other people who will be affected by the closure: how genuine is the consultation, or not? What will be the future of the site, as well—a significant site in terms of its scale—and what might happen there if 2 Sisters go ahead with their closure? They're all points where we don't have answers yet. They're all points that we do need to work together on. I am grateful for the constructive approach taken by both Unite the Union and the council, and I'll look for a proper and constructive response from the company. I will of course work with elected representatives from across the political spectrum to try to get the best possible outcome for the workforce that are there and the surrounding community.

And finally, Jenny Rathbone.

I completely agree it's a disaster for the 730 staff who are employed there, but I think we have to ask some hard questions about this company as well, because in the past, as you said, Minister, there has been a serious outbreak of COVID, and eight years ago there were serious allegations of breaches of environmental health standards, which, when investigated by the Food Standards Agency, were not found to be correct. But when you're looking at what has happened and why, I wondered if you will investigate to make sure that this is a company that has maintained adequate workplace terms and conditions as well as adequate environmental health standards, because clearly those things would need rectifying if the company is to have any really substantive future.

The company has a significant footprint, and, of course, there's a significant site in north-east Wales. So, this is a company with a footprint across north Wales and beyond. One of the issues that the company have indicated has led to their likely closure decision, which they're formally consulting on and which they've announced today, is that the other sites have been invested in and have a different ability to them and a different capacity. That's a choice the company are making about how to invest, and that's one of the factors that goes into the choice. We will, of course, look to see what is happening on the site when trying to understand if it's possible to maintain the employment where it is, and if not we'll need to understand what alternative uses exist, and for those other sites that still exist and still employ significant numbers of people—I think there are about 1,000 workers on the site in north-east Wales—around what will the conditions be there. So, it's not just the picture in Llangefni, there is a broader picture, but understandably, the focus must remain on the Llangefni site, on the workforce, the impact on the community and the broader economy on the island and in north-west Wales.

Thank you, Minister.