End of traditional steelmaking at Port Talbot cannot lead to 'managed decline' - we need a clear vision for the future

30 September 2024, 19:03 | Updated: 30 September 2024, 19:09

The final shutdown of the last blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks is a very poignant day for the area.

It will hit particularly hard across the town of Port Talbot itself. For more than a century this huge, fire breathing giant has provided, either directly or indirectly, employment for thousands - myself included.

The most recent of these years of steelmaking have been marred by great uncertainty, so it is essential now that the Tata Steel Port Talbot Transition Board - set up to help the people, communities and businesses affected by the changes at the steelworks - can deliver a clear vision for what comes next and how we get there.

Tata has committed to developing an Electric Arc Furnace, to ensure steelmaking does have a future in Port Talbot. Projects such as the Celtic Freeport (won jointly with Pembrokeshire Council, Associated British Ports and the Port of Milford Haven) offer a massive opportunity for our community to play a leading role as new, green industries, such as Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW), take shape.

But these developments will not come about overnight and so it is vital to support our local people and businesses who have come to depend upon the steelworks for their livelihoods.

Monday, September 30, 2024 saw the Transition Board launch a £13.4m fund for those businesses within the supply chain that rely most on Tata Steel. Further funding streams will support people wishing to re-skill and will also back infrastructure projects to help the local area meet the future needs of industry and economy.

It’s essential we deliver a just transition to net zero, one that seizes on lucrative opportunities like FLOW and champions the expertise which has been built up through generations of steelmaking. We must believe, even on a sad day such as today, that there is a future to be positive and hopeful about. This cannot be, as we saw with the coalfields, simply a process of managed decline.

As a council we face our own financial challenges but we are still working hard to support and represent our communities throughout this very difficult period.

We are playing a key role with the governments and local partners in helping businesses and people at risk of redundancy in the short term and we will also be working hard with both the UK and Welsh Government to bring replacement jobs here.

On behalf of the Transition Board the council has developed a website to bring together information for people and businesses affected. The Tata Transition Information Hub is being continually updated and signposts to practical support for all those affected, not just those living within Neath Port Talbot. Click here to find out more.

In addition, our NPT Employability service, through its two drop-in centres in Port Talbot and its ongoing outreach work is also providing support to people directly and indirectly affected.”

Cllr Steve Hunt is the leader of Neath Port Talbot Council

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