Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department has not made a decision on the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab by Vishay Intertechnology within its 30-working day target.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Given the quasi-judicial nature of the government’s investment screening powers, and for commercial confidentiality and national security reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on any specific acquisitions or the potential applicability of the NSI Act 2021. Decisions are always made within the statutory timeframes required by the Act. Transparency is of course a crucial part of the NSI Act, and as such, the Government has published an Annual Report detailing the use of NSI Act powers. The report and notices of any Final Orders that have been made are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department plans to make a decision on the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab by Vishay Intertechnology.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Given the quasi-judicial nature of the government’s investment screening powers, and for commercial confidentiality and national security reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on any specific acquisitions or the potential applicability of the NSI Act 2021. Decisions are always made within the statutory timeframes required by the Act. Transparency is of course a crucial part of the NSI Act, and as such, the Government has published an Annual Report detailing the use of NSI Act powers. The report and notices of any Final Orders that have been made are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department plans to acquire the Wylfa site land at the book value assigned to it by Hitachi.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Wylfa is a candidate for new nuclear and one of a number of potential sites that could host civil nuclear projects. That said, no decisions on sites have been taken at present.
As a first step towards developing the new nuclear National Policy Statement, the Government is consulting on a proposed way forward for determining how new nuclear developments might be located. Separately, Great British Nuclear is working with Government to support access to potential sites for new nuclear projects.
Given the NPS consultation and any discussion regarding sites would be commercially sensitive, it is too early to say more on any approach to specific sites.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2024 to Question 11134 on Railways: Wales, if he will publish the initial prioritised list of rail improvements and investments.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Wales Rail Board’s prioritised view of rail infrastructure improvements and investments has been provided for consideration by the UK and Welsh Governments. There are no plans to publish the list at this time.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much and what proportion of the £100 million fund overseen by the Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board has been spent.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. Decisions on investment will happen once the consultation has concluded and there is an understanding of what the impact of Tata Steel’s decarbonisation plans will be.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of of 15 January 2024 to Question 9001 on Wales Rail Board, what (a) rail infrastructure improvements and (b) investments the Welsh Rail Board has recommended since March 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Wales Rail Board has recently completed an initial prioritised view of rail infrastructure improvements and investments required to support future service aspirations in Wales.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the minutes of future meetings of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. I chair the Board, with the Minister for the Economy of Wales and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up acting as deputy chairs. The Board’s membership also consists of representatives from Neath Port Talbot Council, Tata Steel, the local Member of Parliament and Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives also attend as observers of the Board meetings.
In order to facilitate open dialogue on sensitive issues, the minutes of previous meetings have not been published but Joint Statements are published after each meeting which summarise the topics discussed and who was in attendance. This approach will be adopted for future meetings.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the terms of reference of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. The terms of reference of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board have been published on the Neath Port Talbot Council website and are available here: Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board - Terms of reference – Neath Port Talbot Council (npt.gov.uk).
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the minutes of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board meetings in (a) October and (b) November 2023.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. I chair the Board, with the Minister for the Economy of Wales and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up acting as deputy chairs. The Board’s membership also consists of representatives from Neath Port Talbot Council, Tata Steel, the local Member of Parliament and Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives also attend as observers of the Board meetings.
In order to facilitate open dialogue on sensitive issues, the minutes are not published but Joint Statements are published after each meeting which summarise the topics discussed and who was in attendance.
The first joint statement is available here: Statement on behalf of the Tata Steel/ Port Talbot Transition Board - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The second joint statement is available here: Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board Statement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has met monthly.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. From that funding, £80 million is provided by the UK Government and £20 million will be provided by Tata.
I chair the Board, and it had its inaugural meeting on 19 October 2023, and the Board reconvened for its second meeting on 30 November 2023. The third Board meeting will be held on 1 February 2024. The Board will continue to meet regularly, to help ensure that those who are affected are receiving the support that they need. Both of the sub-groups held their first official meetings the week commencing 22 January 2024.