Port Talbot: Tata workers' £100m fund is enough, says minister

A £100m fund to help Tata Steel workers retrain "is enough" according to UK government minister David TC Davies.

The secretary of state for Wales said that he would "make the case for more" if necessary.

This week Tata Steel announced plans to decarbonise which included 2,800 job losses, mainly in Port Talbot.

Mr Davies said that every single one of the workers "will have access to any training they need or want".

As part of a deal announced in September, the UK government set up a transition board to manage a £100m fund to help workers affected by restructuring at Tata Steel.

Mr Davies said the main focus of the fund was reskilling workers, but some of the money may be used for infrastructure projects to attract investment.

"We're already meeting informally and formally with businesses to find out what their training requirements are going to be, Mr Davies said.

"I understand how difficult it must be for [workers] at this moment. That £100m is there to help you get any training, any help at all that you need after this devastating news."

Vaughan Gething, the Welsh government's economy minister told the programme: "We will always help people who are facing redundancy.

"So that may mean I need to move around other parts of my budget, which I would absolutely be prepared to do to make sure we can support workers - as we always have done - who are facing redundancy."

However, Mr Gething insisted the primary focus is on maintaining the jobs at the steel works.

"I do think, though, there is hope. The final whistle has absolutely not gone because the proposals around blast furnace closures envisaged the last blast furnace closing towards the end of this year.

We need to understand, practically, whether that's possible... whether the company is in a position to do that with all of their own responsibilities for their customers and the future."

He said that if Labour win the next election a £3bn green steel fund is "on the table to assist in a transition that is a generally just transition".

Joe Rossiter from the Institute of Welsh Affairs warned workers could be left behind if plans to create green jobs aren't expedited.

"There needs to be a co-ordinated plan that's joint-owned by the UK and Welsh governments and the investment to back that up," he said.

"If we don't act now to invest in the green economy then Wales will feel left behind in the global race for these industries of the future."

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