Welsh secretary pressed on ‘unfunded’ £80m steel claim

Jo Stevens appeared before the Senedd’s economy committee on November 20 to give evidence on Welsh steelmaking after Port Talbot’s last blast furnace closed in September.

Hefin David asked about the £80m transition fund, including last week’s announcement of £13m allocated to business support.

Ms Stevens said the fund was announced to much fanfare in October 2023 but “not a single penny went out of the door to help steelworkers” before July’s general election.

She told the committee: “I was horrified to discover that actually the £80m had not been funded, it was an unfunded spending commitment from the previous government.”

Dr David asked: “Given the announcement was made and the money wasn’t then allocated, isn’t it a case of the House of Commons being misled?”

Ms Stevens replied: “I think it’s for my former colleagues who made those announcements in the chamber to justify what they said and why they said it.”

She told the committee the £80m was confirmed in October’s budget, with the first tranche of £13.5m released in July.

She explained Tata employees and their immediate family members can apply for up to £10,000 to start a business, with grants of up to £250,000 for existing businesses.

She said: “In 12 weeks, £26.5m has been agreed to go out compared with – in the previous nine months – absolutely nothing.”

Paul Davies, chairing the committee, pressed Ms Stevens about her "disingenuous" claim, saying money was spent on an economic assessment before she came into office.

She replied: “I said no money went out of the door to help communities and people affected by the transition and that is accurate. The local economic action plan was commissioned but not a single penny left the transition board and went directly to support anybody.”

Mr Davies pointed to the deal agreed by the previous UK Government, which included £500m towards the £1.2bn cost of an electric arc furnace.