Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Strengthening the Union

Wednesday 30 April 2025 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 5 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Andrew Ranger welcomed the UK Trailblazer programme in north Wales, which aims to support people into work by offering tailored approaches.
  • Ms Julie Minns highlighted the decrease in NHS waiting lists in Wales over three consecutive months, a result of the collaboration between the UK and Welsh Labour Governments.
  • Jim Shannon questioned whether the parcels border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland would strengthen the Union, expressing concerns about new customs declarations.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Ranger Lab Wrexham
Employment Wales
Context

The UK Trailblazer programme was recently announced in north Wales, aimed at supporting people into work. This initiative is part of a broader effort to address unemployment and provide opportunities for stable employment.

Question

Supporting people into work is the right thing to do, not just economically but morally. I therefore welcome the recently announced UK Trailblazer programme in north Wales, which will do away with the one-size-fits-all approach and will instead meet people where they are, giving them a greater chance to secure stable and good employment. Does the Secretary of State agree that this shows the power of the partnership that we now have, and our commitment that no one, on either side of the M4, will be left behind? Also, will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Wrexham football team on their historic back-to-back-to-back promotion this weekend to the English football league championship?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)

Many congratulations to Wrexham. I am delighted to see them promoted, and very sad to see Cardiff relegated. My hon. Friend is right: the Government understand that work is crucial not just to our health and wellbeing, but to improving our living standards. That is why we announced last week a £10 million pilot in Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot and Denbighshire to support people back into work. We will not sit by and let the Tories’ broken welfare system continue, which has condemned people to a life without work. These Trailblazer projects will help more people in Wales back into secure, well-paid jobs.

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Q2 Julie Minns Lab Carlisle
NHS Wales
Context

Since Labour's election, there have been significant improvements in GP appointments and NHS waiting lists. The UK Government has committed to a record-breaking £21 billion budget settlement for healthcare.

Question

Since this UK Labour Government were elected, more than 2 million extra GP appointments have been delivered in England, and thanks to a record-breaking £21 billion Budget settlement, waiting lists in Wales have gone down three months in a row. Does the Secretary of State agree that our NHS and our country are safer and stronger when we have two Governments working together to make devolution work, not to tear our Union apart?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Driving down NHS waiting lists is a shared priority for both the UK and the Welsh Labour Governments. As she says, waiting list have fallen for three consecutive months as a result of our two Governments working together. Meanwhile, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru voted against an extra £600 million for the Welsh NHS, and Reform would sell off the NHS to the highest bidder.

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Q3 Jim Allister TUV North Antrim
Northern Ireland Brexit
Context

A new parcels border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be imposed, with customs declarations and checks required for business-to-business transactions.

Question

Does the Secretary of State think that the imposition from tomorrow of a parcels border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will strengthen the Union, given that parcels, business to business, from Wales or any other part of the UK to Northern Ireland, will now be subject to EU customs declarations and checks? How does that strengthen the Union?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)

I thank the hon. and learned Member for his question. As I said in reply to an earlier question, we want to make sure that trading is made easier and that we remove the red tape and barriers. Those are the discussions that we are having at the moment with the EU.

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Q4 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Context

The question addresses the importance of maintaining a strong union between England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in terms of culture, history, employment opportunities, and constitutional unity.

Question

Does the Minister agree that what strengthens this Union is the nations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland intertwined with England? It is the Gaelic nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and their cultures and history that bring us together. The Union also brings benefits relating to employment, jobs and opportunity. It is about the constitution and our service in uniform. All those things bring us together in a way that nothing else can, and mean that this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is better as a Union; we can all do better together.

Answer from The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I definitely believe that the UK is stronger with the four nations working together.

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Q5 David Chadwick Lib Dem Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe
Economy Employment
Context

The question addresses concerns about workers' rights in relation to redundancy payments and retraining schemes following a major industrial decision by Tata Steel.

Question

There is no greater threat to our Union than the feeling that workers in one nation matter less than those in another. People in and around Port Talbot feel that they have had a rotten deal. Can the Minister explain why, under the deal that her Government did with Tata, workers who had been at the company for longer than 25 years did not have that service reflected in their redundancy payments, and why workers wishing to access the retraining elements had to forgo their rights to the enhanced redundancy payment? Is it true that, as has been reported, as of February, only three people had applied for that scheme?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)

Tata made the decision to close the blast furnaces in January 2024, six months before the general election. It closed the coke ovens in March 2024, when an agreement on the grant for the electric arc furnace had already been made. The hon. Gentleman might remember that blast furnace 5 closed down on polling day. The timeline was fixed for that electric arc furnace to be delivered. In 10 weeks, we negotiated a better deal, with better terms and protections for the whole workforce at Port Talbot. There were no immediate compulsory redundancies. We saw the best voluntary redundancy package ever offered by Tata to its UK workforce. We saved 5,000 jobs, and 385 acres of land are being released for development, regeneration and future opportunities at the site. All in all, this was £1.3 billion investment deal. That is very different from the situation in Scunthorpe.

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