North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government to help ensure that the commitments made to Vauxhall Ellesmere Port’s employees and pensioners are kept.
In an Urgent Question to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood emphasised the Plant’s importance to north-east Wales, and Wales more generally, and asked what action the Welsh Government is taking to help its workers.
He said:
“The head of the PSA Group, which is buying General Motors’ European units said, that Brexit means it may be more, not less, important to have manufacturing in the UK. He insisted that the new combined company would have an opportunity to set new internal benchmarks for performance, but he also said that this will allow plants to be compared and improve; and, of course, production commitments expire in 2021 for Ellesmere Port.
“Given that the plant is in England, but critically important to north-east Wales and Wales more generally, how will you, and how are you engaging with the UK Government, where the Prime Minister and UK Business Secretary have been in close contact with the PSA Group and General Motors, and have stated that they will continue to engage and work with PSA in the weeks and months ahead to ensure that the commitments made by GM to Vauxhall’s employees and pensioners are kept and will build on the success of Ellesmere Port, and the other affected site, in the longer term?”
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure Ken Skates AM said he has sought a meeting with UK Ministers to discuss the automotive sector.
He added: “In terms of the assistance that we can give, of course, with so many people being employed from within Wales at the Vauxhall site in Ellesmere Port, there is a critical role for the skills training provision providers in north Wales, and so, for the regional skills partnership, this is a vitally important piece of work.”