6. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Economy about additional financial support for Isle of Anglesey County Council following the announcement by the 2 Sisters Food Group regarding the closure of its site in Llangefni? OQ59316

The Minister for Economy, working with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, is engaging across Government and working in partnership with Anglesey council through the 2 Sisters taskforce. Our collective focus to date has been on supporting affected workers and the community in Llangefni and beyond.

Thank you for that response. There does need to be a response in terms of additional funding on many levels. This is a huge blow to us on Anglesey. I, of course, am in contact with many of those who are losing their jobs as they face an uncertain future, and I am asking for an assurance today that the Minister will look favourably at any applications for support for workers and their families, both directly and by creating employment and training opportunities and so on too.

In terms of the county council, work is currently ongoing to identify the areas that will place most demand on them. They're looking at well-being and social needs, housing, the resilience of families, and so on and so forth. And the great concern at this point is that it won't be apparent what the impact will be until after the plant closes. So can I ask, once again today, the Government to work very closely with the community. and the council particularly, to secure sufficient funding to face the challenges that arise?

I'd just begin by reassuring Rhun ap Iorwerth that the Minister for Economy is working very closely indeed with the council on this issue, and the taskforce also continues to be meeting regularly to establish a way forward and also to understand those wider implications to which the Member has referred. The Minister for Economy has approved additional funding through the Welsh Government's Communities for Work Plus programme for Anglesey County Council and Gwynedd Council in 2023-24 to expand the capacity of their local Communities for Work teams, to support those who have been made redundant as a result of the closure of the Llangefni plant. And both of those teams are already on site, alongside Careers Wales and Job Centre Plus, to ensure that the staff at 2 Sisters get the full range of support that they need to find alternative employment.

With the plant's closure having now entered the next stage, consideration is being given to future options for the site, which remain with its owner. Alongside the local authority, we are engaging with them to ensure that this important and prominent site can once again provide local employment opportunities as soon as possible. As far as I'm aware, to date, no funding request for the site has been made to the Minister for Economy, and given that the taskforce's focus to date has been on the individuals affected, there hasn't been any additional funding request from the council at this time. But I appreciate that these are early days in terms of understanding the full impact of the closure.

Can I support Rhun ap Iorwerth in his request for the appropriate support to be provided to the local authority at Anglesey? I noted in your response there, Minister, that you rightly pointed to the important goal of the support for workers from the 2 Sisters site and also for the re-establishment of the site to be utilised at some point in the future as well. I also noted that, right towards the end there, you said that you hadn't seen any further requests for support from the local authority. But I wonder if you'd be able to expand on any other types of support that may have been requested to you, whether you've had sight of those, and what the options might be for supporting the community from other places, not just from the local authority.

The request for additional support, for example the additional funding that has gone through Communities for Work, was made to the Minister for Economy. So, I haven't had any particular approaches in terms of additional funding. But I do know that there was a meeting held on 15 March between Anglesey council, the Wales Office, Welsh Government and Amber Holdings who own the site, and that meeting secured an agreement to engage with stakeholders to agree a future use of the site in line with local needs, and also to engage with local businesses to determine the type of property required in the current market. And again, that would be a discussion led by the Minister for Economy. But I just thought that sharing that could be of interest to colleagues this afternoon as well.