Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

My Department is not an employer in its own right and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provide employment services on our behalf, including setting ethnicity data categories for collection.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether she is taking steps to increase the number of apprenticeships within her Department.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

Apprenticeships are available to new and existing Wales Office staff and my Department promotes these opportunities through Ministry of Justice (MoJ) intranet bulletins and Wales Office staff newsletters. When vacancies arise, the Department also considers if posts may be advertised as apprenticeships.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proposals put forward for new rail investment in Wales as part of the Spending Review 2025 were rejected by the Treasury.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The Chancellor set out that the UK Government will commit at least £445 million investment into Welsh rail infrastructure upgrades at the Spending Review in June.

For too long, Wales’s long-term infrastructure needs have not been recognised. This government is taking a different approach, delivering at least £445 million of rail enhancements funding for Wales. UK Government does not comment on Spending Review discussions, however we are delivering the maximum number of projects the sector can deliver in the next few years.

My top priority in advance of the Spending Review was to tackle historic underfunding in Wales’ rail infrastructure. This funding will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales - connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.

Through the Wales Rail Board, we will work in collaboration with the Welsh Government to agree and develop future rail service improvements, delivering a sustainable pipeline of investment.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions her Department has had with a) the Welsh Government and b) Cyngor Gwynedd on the regeneration of the former Trawsfynydd nuclear site.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The UK Government has regular discussions with the Welsh Government on a range of issues including our joint ambition for Wales to be at the forefront of the clean energy transition.

The UK Government is committed to delivering a secure, reliable, and low-carbon energy future for the UK and we have committed almost £17bn across the Spending Review period to the most ambitious nuclear new build programme for a generation.

This includes making available over £2.5bn across the Spending Review period to enable one of Europe’s first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programmes. Great British Energy – Nuclear has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to government approvals and contract signature.

The government values the work undertaken by Cwmni Egino to develop socio-economic growth opportunities from new nuclear development in North Wales. Trawsfynydd could be a candidate for new nuclear in future and is one of a number of potential sites that could host new civil nuclear projects, subject to national planning policy, regulatory approvals and technical assessments.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help create new jobs in Wales.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

In just twelve months, this Labour government has supported over £3.4 billion in private investment into Wales, creating and sustaining over 8000 jobs.

Wales now punches above its weight, landing nearly 5% of all UK inward investment projects, up from 3.4% before the election.

Our Industrial Strategy will create tens of thousands of jobs in Wales, backed by our trade deals, Freeports, Investment Zones, and Defence Growth Deal.

This is the difference two Labour governments working together makes for Wales.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage on people in Wales.

Answered by Nia Griffith

Up to 160,000 workers across Wales received a record pay rise through increases to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage.

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will see a real-terms pay increase of £1,400 per year, whilst 18-to-20-year-olds will get a record boost of £2,500 each year. This will help provide people across Wales with better financial stability.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on strengthening the Union.

Answered by Nia Griffith

The Spending Review demonstrated how our two Labour Governments are investing in Wales’ future and strengthening our Union for generations to come.

With a record settlement for the Welsh Government, an historic investment of at least £445m into Welsh rail, money to keep coal tips safe and protecting every penny of Wales’ growth funds, we have ended Tory austerity.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of her Department's procurement contracts were awarded to UK companies in the last financial year.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).

Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc. VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact and allocation of the funds budgeted to support those who lose their jobs as a result of the transformation of Port Talbot.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Wales, supports those affected by Tata Steel UK’s decarbonisation transition and is supported by £100 million of funding. £80 million of which is provided by the UK Government, as confirmed by the Chancellor in the Budget on 30 October, and the remaining £20 million is provided by Tata Steel UK. The joint investment by UK Government and Tata Steel UK of £1.3 billion in an Electric Arc Furnace at Port Talbot has helped to protect 5,000 jobs and many more within the supply chain.

The Transition Board, in under a year, allocated the full UK Government £80 million funding to help those people and businesses affected by the transition, and to regenerate the local area. The UK Government Funds have created:

• The Supply Chain Transition Fund, to help businesses adapt to new markets.

• The Employment and Skills Fund, to help individuals re-train and find new well-paid jobs.

• The Business Start-Up Fund, to help people affected start new businesses.

• The Business Growth and Resilience Funds to help businesses reliant on Tata Steel UK but not in the supply chain, such as shops and cafes, adapt to the changes.

• Mental health and wellbeing support, to provide additional help to those affected.

• Regeneration projects, to create new business space for local businesses; to help remediate land and flood mitigation for the creation of an innovation centre in Port Talbot; and to create a skills centre for future green skills in green energy.

• An Economic Growth and Investment Fund is in development, to attract inward investment into Port Talbot, to create new, well-paid jobs for those affected by job losses.

The Transition Board receives updates on the impact of the funds at every Board meeting, containing data provided by delivery partners, such as Neath Port Talbot Council and Business Wales. The Transition Board last met on 26 June, and the following progress was reported up until that date:

• The Employment and Skills Fund: more than 2,800 training courses and qualifications have been funded so far.
• The Supply Chain Fund: 240 jobs have been safeguarded, and 26 new jobs have been created so far.
• The Resilience and Growth Funds: a total of 192 enquiries for support have been received so far.
• The Business Start-Up Fund: 12 new business have been created.

Funding for growth and regeneration projects in Port Talbot have also been funded by the Transition Board:

• On 6 February, the Secretary of State for Wales announced over £8m of the Transition Board funding to support the South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub project. This will redevelop a four-acre site at Harbourside, Port Talbot which will include the construction of additional shared space, undertake flood mitigation and the provision of specialist equipment. This investment will help establish an Innovation District in Port Talbot. This will support more than 100 jobs and bring an estimated £87.7 million in GVA benefits to the local economy.

• Three additional growth and regeneration projects were announced by the Secretary of State for Wales on 22 May, which committed over £20m for the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing Production Facility (AMPF) and National Net Zero Skills Centre of Excellence; and for the redevelopment of Metal Box and Sandfields Business Centre. These two projects will support over 270 jobs, and bring an estimated £119 million in GVA benefits to the local economy.

The growth and regeneration projects will also create construction jobs during the building, refurbishment and remediation phases.

Found: Statistical Bulletin 2023 Deaths registered in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics 4

Found: Statistical Bulletin 2023 Deaths registered in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics 4

Found: “Death Registration Summary Statistics, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics.”

Found: 9 Tackling Violence against Women and Girls 10 Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statisticshowever

Found: Domestic abuse victim characteristics, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics.

Found: Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">