The criticism followed a written response by Economy Minister and Welsh Labour leadership candidate Vaughan Gething asking how much money has the Welsh Government offered and paid, in an effort to save jobs at Tata Steel in Port Talbot?
In his written response Mr Gething revealed that while no money had been given to the steelmaker since 2019, it had provided £17m in the ten years prior to this.
Tata Steel have confirmed up to 2,800 potential job losses at Port Talbot, with around 2,500 roles potentially impacted during the next 18 months as it closes its blast furnace production.
The UK Government has committed up to £500 million towards Tata’s £1.25 billion investment in Electric Arc Furnace technology in Port Talbot.
Mr Gething said: “Between 2009 and 2019 we provided Tata with more than £17m in grant funding across skills, R&D and environmental projects.
“The Company has not requested any direct grant funding from the Welsh Government since 2019. However, Tata Steel has received ongoing support for engineering, craft and management apprenticeships.
“Clearly the Welsh Government does not have the resources or indeed the powers that the UK Government has, but since the UK Government and Company’s joint announcement on 15 September we have continued to make it clear that we would be prepared to do what we can to support the Company and its employees.
“It was disappointing that the Welsh Government was excluded from discussions on the agreement reached in September last year, leaving us unsighted on aspects that touch on devolved competence.
“I have written to successive Secretary of States regarding Tata and made it clear that we were prepared to do what we can to support the company while making the case for a reliable and formal dialogue that includes the Welsh Government in ongoing talks.”
Andrew RT Davies MS, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives said: “I am frankly shocked by this revelation. Despite their vocal opposition to the UK Conservative Government’s rescue package for Tata Steel, Labour’s financial support for our steelworkers has been non-existent in recent years, it really has been nothing but warm words from Labour.
“The UK Conservative Government have invested half a billion pounds to keep the Port Talbot operation going, saving thousands of jobs – Labour have offered nothing but criticism.”
In a joint statement, regional Senedd Members for South Wales West, Tom Giffard MS and Dr Altaf Hussain MS added: “It beggars belief that after all of the bluster from Vaughan Gething, he hasn’t provided any support at all to our steelworkers in his entire time as Labour’s Economy Minister.
“Labour ministers have carped from the sidelines, but when the time came to put their money where their mouths were, they didn’t put a single penny on the table.”
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
