A gathering convened to address support measures for steelworkers and residents who will be impacted by extensive job cuts at the largest steelworks in the United Kingdom.
Last month, the UK government allocated £500 million to Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site as part of a £1.25 billion initiative aimed at transitioning to more environmentally sustainable steel production. It is anticipated that roughly 3,000 jobs across the UK will be affected by this arrangement.
As a component of this plan, a transition board was established, backed by £100 million in funding to be directed towards skill development and community revitalization. Tata Steel presently employs approximately 8,000 individuals in the UK, with 4,000 of them located in Port Talbot.
The transition board, under the leadership of Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, convened at the Port Talbot steelworks on Thursday to finalize its membership and operational protocols.
The current coal-fueled blast furnaces in Port Talbot will be substituted with electric arc technology, which utilizes sustainable energy sources to melt scrap steel. This transition will put an end to the production of what’s known as “virgin steel,” produced by heating iron ore at elevated temperatures, at the facility in South Wales.
Upon the announcement of the agreement to decarbonize Tata Steel, the UK government pledged to collaborate with both the company and the Welsh government to provide support to the workforce and the local community. Serving as deputy chairs on the board are Michael Gove, the Secretary for Levelling Up, and Vaughan Gething, the Minister for the Economy in the Welsh government.
The board comprises representatives from Tata Steel, labor unions representing the workforce, and local political figures. It’s important to note that this board is not directly linked to the formal consultation concerning the decarbonization plans between Tata Steel and the labor unions, which has yet to commence.
The Welsh Secretary described this meeting as an “important first step”.
He said: “We know that there are challenges ahead, but I’m clear that we have the right people around the table who will all be doing their absolute best to facilitate the transition to greener steel and the impact that has on the community.”
During the meeting, Steve Hunt, the leader of Neath Port Talbot council, expressed his enthusiasm at the “prospect of being able to manufacture green steel here, on this site, that can be turned into turbines that will generate green power at scale in the Celtic Sea and elsewhere”.
However, he acknowledged that the shift to sustainable steel would have consequences for the community and urged the group to collaborate in order to mitigate these effects.
