Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Prime Minister has met the new First Minister of Wales.
Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister spoke to the First Minister of Wales on 20 March 2024 to congratulate him on his appointment.
More broadly, I refer the Noble Lady to the answer Baroness Swinburne gave to question HL1907 on 1 February 2024.
I also refer the Noble Lady to the answer given to question 21826 by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Wales on 17 April 2024.
Details of the Prime Minister’s future official meetings and visits will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of blast furnace closures on jobs in the supply chain.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
This Government is supporting Tata Steel with £500 million towards building an electric arc furnace, securing the future of steelmaking at Port Talbot. This will protect 5,000 steel jobs and thousands more in the supply chain. The Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation transition, backed by a £100 million fund. Of that funding, £80 million is provided by the UK Government and £20 million will be provided by Tata.
To address the potential impact on the supply chain, I have formed a dedicated Supply Chain Sub-Group within the structure of the Transition Board. This group consists of representatives from UK Government, Welsh Government, local government, and Tata Steel UK. This group is actively mapping affected supply chains and developing targeted interventions to specifically support impacted businesses.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the Fifth Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board Statement, published on 25 April 2024, if he will publish the local economic action plan.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation transition, backed by a £100 million fund. Of that funding, £80 million is provided by the UK Government and £20 million will be provided by Tata.
The Transition Board commissioned the development of a Local Economic Action Plan to assess the economic impact in South Wales, as well as provide the Transition Board with advice on how to support and grow the local economy.
At the Fifth Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board meeting, the Board endorsed the Local Economic Action Plan and its use as a broad roadmap to help guide the Board when recommending how the £100 million fund should be used to support those affected. The Board agreed that a summary of the Local Economic Action Plan should be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales.
Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government has had no discussions with the Welsh Government on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales.
The Commission was established by and reported to the Welsh Government. The Counsel General shared an update on the Welsh Government's consideration of the Commission’s final report with the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee in March.
UK Government Ministers have regular discussions with Welsh Ministers on a wide range of issues. Many such discussions focus on our joint work to support economic growth and jobs in Wales, including through delivering Freeports, Investment Zones and City and Growth Deals.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to help support victims of crime in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The protection of victims across England and Wales, including Newport West, is a key priority for the Government. Through the Police Uplift Programme, Gwent Police now has 227 more officers, with a total of 1527 officers serving the people of Gwent. Furthermore, funding for Gwent Police is being increased by up to £13m compared to 2023/24.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for the rural economy in Wales.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
I regularly have conversations with Ministerial colleagues on support for the rural economy in Wales. I am delighted the Chancellor announced £5m at Budget for an Agri-food launchpad in North and Mid Wales which will deliver jobs, growth, and boost productivity for our rural communities.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what plans he has to meet the First Minister of Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I met with the First Minister on Wednesday 27 March 2024 and congratulated him on his appointment.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) police forces and (c) businesses in Wales on the incidence of shop theft in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government continues to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes, such as shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.
Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months leading to September 2023 in Wales and England. However, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 34%, suggesting that we are now seeing a more robust response.
We have also taken other significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime.
October 2023 saw the publication of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan. The plan includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel, showing the Government commitment to tackling this issue. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database as standard using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
In addition, October 2023 also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information-sharing platform and training for retailers.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in the past 12 months with Welsh Ministers on issues relating to the trawling of the sea bed for rare minerals within territorial waters of the Welsh coast.
Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
UK Government Ministers have regular discussions with Welsh Government Ministers on a wide range of issues. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs engages regularly at official level with the Welsh Government on areas of shared interest, including marine licensing.
The licensing regime for mineral extraction from the seabed within Welsh waters is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, and therefore the responsibility of Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Harlech on 6 March (HL3092), on how many occasions in the past 12 months has the Government failed to provide an official to attend a meeting arranged between (1) Welsh Ministers and (2) ministers of foreign governments; and whether the meetings were permitted to go ahead in those circumstances.
Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Between March 2023 and March 2024, Welsh Ministers have conducted over 20 overseas visits. Close engagement between FCDO and Welsh Government officials ensured that Welsh Ministers were effectively supported on each visit. This included FCDO officials accompanying Welsh Ministers in their meetings with ministers of foreign governments, as appropriate. FCDO officials attended all such meetings.