[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The plight of a Pembrokeshire engineering firm has implications for the region’s energy industry, Assembly Member Joyce Watson has argued.
The Labour Mid and West AM today questioned Welsh economy minister Ken Skates about the loss of 69 jobs at Main Port Engineering Ltd (MPE).
On 27 October it was announced that the company, a high quality structural steelwork business at Pembroke Dock, had entered administration following a winding up order by HM Revenue and Customs.
Speaking in the Senedd this afternoon, Mrs Watson said the immediate priority must be supporting those who have lost their jobs; but said questions regarding the circumstances surrounding the winding up order must be answered, and called for a wider look at support for the energy industry. She said:
“Cabinet Secretary, I thank you for your written statement that you issued yesterday afternoon. And, as everybody here will agree, it is hugely disappointing news for the area which I represent and in which I live. It is a devastating blow, particularly for those families, and it’s those families and those individuals who will be facing a very uncertain future that I really want to focus on today. So I was very encouraged to learn that you have already arranged a drop-in session with Jobcentre Plus and other agencies for 11 o’clock on Friday. I think we need to stay focused that this was particularly highly skilled and highly paid work, and so the loss of that income to the local economy will be felt almost immediately, and how we can work with anybody else to ensure the viability of their businesses if they were equally dependent on these workers for their own income.
“But I want to move on and think about the future, and I will ask you, Cabinet Secretary, to look at the wider issues about the future of that area and, of course, the Haven enterprise zone and any strategy that we will need to put in place to support the well-established west Wales energy industry, because it is well-established and it is also vital to the region. But, as I say, the immediate thoughts and the immediate action have to go towards those who have now an uncertain future.”
Mr Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, replied:
“I’d like to thank the Member for her comments and, again, I share her concerns for those families who are facing considerable anxiety at this moment in time. I can say that my officials are in close dialogue with PwC and are aware that there is some developing interest in the Main Port business and, potentially, the remaining employees. So, all is not yet lost, and we will do everything we can to ensure that those people who have been working at the business have employment, either there or within the local area. I think it’s essential that the enterprise zone continues to perform successfully. It’s created and secured hundreds of jobs since it was formed, but I recognise that, in the context of a post-Brexit Britain, we do need a new economic strategy for Wales, and I very much hope that, with a focus on place-based economic development, the enterprise zone area of the part of Wales that my friend so proudly represents will have a very, very strong future.”
The full transcript of the 1 November 2016 Plenary session will be published here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
