7. Will the Minister make a statement on the Isle of Anglesey County Council's budget? OQ59132

In 2023-24, the council will receive £123.7 million through the local government settlement—an increase of 7.9 per cent. While the council will still have to make some difficult decisions in the face of the current rates of inflation, this is a better settlement than authorities had expected. 

Thank you for that response. Budgets are tight in all authorities, of course, but sometimes issues arise that put huge strains on budgets. Anglesey council is facing that, given the announcement of the 2 Sisters Food Group company that they are consulting on closing the works in Llangefni, where over 700 are employed. The priority at the moment, of course, is to see whether we can change the company's mind, but I don't need to tell you how much money would be required by a council to respond to job losses at that scale in an area such as Anglesey. The number of individuals and families that would need support is great. We would need support for housing, children's services, and so on and so forth.

So, will the Minister give us an assurance that she will be willing to look at providing additional support to Anglesey council, on top of their basic budget, in order to respond to the situation and to enable them to provide the necessary support to the workers and their families?

Well, I can confirm that officials have met with the chief executive officer of 2 Sisters and are continuing the dialogue to pull all possible levers to offer support to people affected by the recent developments. And, of course, our officials are working very closely with the local authority. I know that the Minister for Economy has been speaking to the leader as well.

Obviously, it is devastating news for the rural community, and we shouldn’t underestimate the impact on public services in terms of responding to it. We have mobilised now the taskforce that the economy Minister previously referred to, to try to offer our full support to the affected employees, and also working with the trade union at the plant. I know that the taskforce is now meeting weekly to find a way forward, and to understand the implications, and to offer support to the workforce that has been impacted by this announcement. So, I think that the stage that we are at at the moment really is mapping out what the impact might be.

And finally, question 8, Luke Fletcher.