, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Okay. It's difficult for you to comment, obviously, on something that hasn't yet been delivered—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Okay, obviously, that's—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Nobody has any idea?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Okay, so when are we expecting it, then? Do we have any—?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Well, somehow, we need to resolve this, because it's incredibly important that we don't lose those skills, as we have done elsewhere. We're simply repeating history as to what's happened in other places. I find all that very, very depressing. So, just moving…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
That sounds like an excuse. What the workforce representatives are saying on the ground is that this didn't happen and it should have happened. But, obviously, Tata is an independent company. They were talking the talk but not walking the walk—is that correct?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
But they didn't.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
Okay.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Future of Welsh Steel
I want to pursue this a little bit further, because I can recall vividly the evidence we had from the local representatives in our one-day inquiry on the transition board. And Ian Williams told us that Tata rushed through the redundancy strategy, throwing…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
I'm sure it is.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
But, without that assisted area status, it's going to be quite difficult to see how we're going to get people to move up to the Heads of the Valleys, where we now have the road completed, just because they're happily sitting down in Cardiff and Newport.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
True. We could have an hour's discussion on that, but, just taking us back, though, to the point that, in my view, the UK Government need to give incentives to deprived areas that have become deindustrialised—it's not their fault; the world has moved on—how…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Happily, it's not very far away, though, from an area of considerable deprivation, so how are we going to get them to move slightly north?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
My final question is around the issues raised by the Industrial Communities Alliance, who are flagging up that more deprived parts of Wales have lost their competitive edge to attract inward investment as a result of the previous UK Government's decision to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Okay, but specifically on inward investment, because that's what we're discussing at the moment.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
How would you say that would be countering the evidence from RenewableUK Cymru that we're lagging behind Scotland and the north-east of England? Do you think that this task and finish group is going to accelerate the structures that we need to get that extra…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Fine. So, the 10-year plan will probably satisfy him; that's what he wants to see. Moving now to offshore wind contracts and the important announcements we had earlier this month, how confident are you that Wales is in a position to maximise the potential…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
So, this road map is a work in development, would you say?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
But he's specifically asking for a long-term road map, to really enable us to build on these clusters, as well as their contribution to the wider regional ecosystem. For example, ensuring that these inward investors are introduced to existing companies in the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Going back to semiconductors, we heard very positive evidence of the key role that Cardiff and Swansea universities have played in providing that pipeline of skills to attract investors to come to south-east Wales, and other places, because of that. But…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Okay, so nothing on heat networks. Thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
We haven't got 100 years. Anybody willing to help us in the here and now?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
Thank you. [Laughter.]
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward investment: Panel 5
In Plenary, you said that you were going to be looking for investors to help us develop a heat network in Wales, along the line of the baby steps taken in Cardiff and Newport, and I just wondered if there was anything you could report on that.
, Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2026-27
I mean, Powys health board shouldn't be spending money it hasn't got. But I want to understand how Powys managed to get away with instructing English authorities not to take your patient.
