Plaid Cymru says Labour ‘abandoned' Port Talbot steelworkers after Tata closure

Independent

23-04-2025

Labour have let down former workers from Tata Steel's plant in Port Talbot, an MP has claimed, as she said the Government did not know how many redundant employees from the steelworks in south Wales it has helped retrain.
Liz Saville Roberts, who leads Plaid Cymru in Westminster, said two Government departments reported it did not know how many staff had accessed a fund established to help 2,500 workers who were made redundant in last year.
The plant's final two blast furnaces were shut amid claims they were losing money – one in July and another after the general election in September.
The departments also said they had no information on how many grants were awarded from the Employment and Skills Flexible Fund, or if any training providers had received funding from it.
In response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from Plaid Cymru, the Wales Office, and the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said they had no information to provide.
The reply also said the Community trade union and the Aberafan community support centre did not get any money to help train or reskill steelworkers from Port Talbot, or those in supply chains.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Saville Roberts said: 'Former steelworkers in Port Talbot watched in dismay as this Government deemed their livelihoods worth less than those in Scunthorpe.
'FOIs reveal that the UK Government doesn't know how its funding for reskilling workers in Wales is being used, or even how many people are being retrained.
'We know concerns have been raised by the transition board. If this Government can't explain how it's helping Port Talbot's laid-off workers to build a future through reskilling, why shouldn't those workers then come to the logical conclusion that Labour has abandoned them?'
Tata closed the blast furnaces, with the company reporting they were losing £1m a day.
Upon entering government Labour renegotiated redundancy terms which led to an improved deal. Workers got a minimum voluntary payout of £15,000.
Tata will build a £1.25 billion electric arc furnace at the plant, which will allow steel to be produced with fewer carbon dioxide emissions.
Neath Port Talbot Council gave the electric arc furnace planning permission in February. It is expected to be operational by early 2028.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said £80 million in funding had been put aside to help workers, including those in the supply chain, retrain.
Sir Keir said: 'She raises a really important issue in relation to Port Talbot, and I visited a number of times and heard first-hand from the workforce there.
'She may or may not know that even in opposition before the election I was talking to the owners to try to persuade them to delay their decisions because I knew an election was coming. That's how important I thought it was.
'I would remind her that at the same time the then-prime minister refused to pick up and call the first minister to even discuss the issue. I took a different approach, because I realised just how important it was.
'I would remind her, because she compares it with the decision we took last week that the blast furnaces were turned off in January of last year, the coke ovens in March 2024, and therefore that was before the election.'
Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Saville Roberts added: 'The Prime Minister's response shows his Government is clueless about the reskilling support needed for former steelworkers in Port Talbot. People deserve clarity about the future, not a vague description of the past.
'He claimed he was powerless after the election because the blast furnaces shut down in January. But the second only closed in September – leaving months in which he could have acted, just as he did in Scunthorpe.
'Once again, it's clear Labour treats livelihoods in south Wales as expendable.'
Ian Ross, chief executive of Whitehead-Ross Education, which runs training centres in South Wales said: 'When compared to the significant efforts and funding that has been provided to support steelworkers in Scunthorpe in a very short period of time, this lack of information and clarity from the UK Government some significant time after issues first arose at Tata Steel is concerning and further highlights a significant set of double standards.'