Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to his oral contribution of 23 January 2024 during the debate on Protecting Steel in the UK, Official Report, column 265, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned an independent assessment of the potential merits of the multi-union plan for steel production at Port Talbot.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Tata Steel are now conducting a formal consultation period with staff regarding the company’s proposed £1.25bn project to transition to greener steelmaking at Port Talbot.
Prior to this, Tata Steel have been discussing Union’s alternative proposals with them for several months. Ultimately, this is a commercial decision for Tata Steel and engagement with trade unions has always been a process that must be led by the employer.
We are working with Tata Steel to provide up to £100m funding for a dedicated Transition Board, which I chair and includes members from the Welsh Government, to support both affected employees and the local economy.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what critical infrastructure his Department is responsible for that is reliant on private wire networks for power supply.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is not responsible for any critical infrastructure that is reliant on private wire networks for power supply.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
What assessment he has made of the effect on the devolution settlement in Wales of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Leaving the EU will result in a significant increase in the decision-making powers of the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Government.
This is another step forward in Welsh devolution. It is hard to believe that the last Labour Government left us with the LCO model, which hardly showed confidence in colleagues in Cardiff Bay.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to support the workforce affected by the decision by Virgin Media to consult on the closure of its Swansea site.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The Government is working closely with both Virgin Media and Sitel to ensure affected employees are able to find alternative employment as quickly as possible. DWP’s Rapid Response Service and the Welsh Government’s ReAct have several tools which they can deploy to ensure that this is the case. In addition, the Government has engaged with local contact centre employers to ensure that any vacancies are shared at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to help ensure Virgin Media operations in Swansea remain open.
Answered by Alun Cairns
This is a commercial decision for Virgin Media and I have asked them to re-consider and sought to facilitate a dialogue with the Welsh Government. They have assured me they are working with and supporting all employees who have been asked to relocate, who may be in a role at risk of redundancy or who may wish to take another role with Virgin Media or one of their partners.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Virgin Media on the decision to consult on the closure of its Swansea site.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Following the announcement that Virgin were consulting on closing their Swansea site, I spoke with the Chief Executive Officer to discuss their plans. I sought to facilitate re-consideration and establish a dialogue with the Welsh Government. I sought assurances that Virgin would support all employees who have been asked to relocate, who may be in a role at risk of redundancy or who may wish to take another role with Virgin Media or one of their partners.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Welsh Government on the decision by Virgin Media to consult on the closure of its Swansea site.
Answered by Alun Cairns
I have discussed the issue with the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure and we are committed to working together to ensure the best outcomes for the individuals involved. The Department for Work and Pensions and Welsh Government are working closely together to provide redundancy support.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on lifting the public sector pay cap.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury set out the Government’s position on public sector pay in the House of Commons on 12 September 2017.
A copy of this statement is available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-09-12/HCWS127
I have discussed this issue with other members of the Government, including the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Barnett consequential funding since the Government announced separate additional funding for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The procedure for funding the devolved administrations is set out in the Statement of Funding Policy; the Barnett Formula applies to changes in UK Government spend on devolved matters in England. The decision to allocate extra resource to Northern Ireland has resulted in no change to UK Government spend in England and therefore there are no Barnett consequentials. A new fiscal framework was agreed with the Welsh Government in December 2016, which enhanced Wales funding settlement.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the effect of Northern Ireland's additional funding on the operation of the Barnett Formula.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The procedure for funding the devolved administrations is set out in the Statement of Funding Policy; the Barnett Formula applies to changes in UK Government spend on devolved matters in England. The decision to allocate extra resource to Northern Ireland has resulted in no change to UK Government spend in England and therefore there are no Barnett consequentials. A new fiscal framework was agreed with the Welsh Government in December 2016, which enhanced Wales funding settlement.