§ Mr. DavidTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Assembly Education Secretary on the measures which have been put in place by ELWa in response to the job losses at Nantgarw in South Wales. [23400]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyI have regular discussions with the First Minister and meetings with other Assembly Ministers when we discuss a variety of issues.
I regret the decision taken by General Electric to shed around 350 jobs at its plant in Nantgarw and the effect this has had on those who have lost their jobs, on their families and on the community.
I understand that 310 workers at the GE plant took voluntary redundancy terms at the end of the 90 day consultation period, which ended on 3 January 2002. A further 10 took redundancy on compulsory terms and the remainder are still in negotiations with GE and the trade unions.
GE has set up a task force that comprised representatives from ELWa, the Employment Service, the Welsh Development Agency and the trade unions to help find retraining opportunities for those who have lost their jobs.