MIKE HEDGES CONTINUES TO PRESSURE WELSH GOVERNMENT ON SUPPORT FOR VIRGIN WORKERS

MIKE HEDGES CONTINUES TO PRESSURE WELSH GOVERNMENT ON SUPPORT FOR VIRGIN WORKERS

Speaking after the Plenary session at the Assembly, Mike Hedges AM for Swansea East said…. ‘I welcome the work already done by the Welsh Government to support the workers of Virgin Media. I have spoken to many employees who are grateful for this support. However, we must ensure that the remaining workers get the support right through to the closure of the site later in the year. We need to support these people to find alternatives for it will be damaging to everyone if people end up unemployed at the end of this process. I look forward to hearing about the future job fairs mentioned today.’

Mike Hedges AM – I want to again ask for a Government statement on support for Virgin Media staff being made redundant in Swansea. On 4 December, your predecessor said115

'There are two phases planned for next year. Our replacement support team has taken on responsibility 116

has taken on responsibility for providing staff with on-site access to key partners in the taskforce, including Careers Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions, and local employers. The Welsh Contact Centre Forum is a key partner in our taskforce, and arranged a jobs fair in October, at the Virgin Media site, and brought recruiting employers to the site, as well as providing careers advice to those staff seeking alternative employment. It's too early for me to provide specific details of those who have been successful in securing alternative employment as a result of the jobs fair, but we are holding further jobs fairs, to coincide with an additional tranche of the staff leaving the company. So, our involvement continues, in order to make sure that all of the staff who are affected by this have the best possible outcomes. I'm really asking for an update now on what has actually happened about people getting into employment, and about further actions that are taking place.117

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Rebecca Evans - Thank you very much for your question, and for the way in which you have consistently brought this issue to the Government's attention, and to the floor of this Assembly. And I declare an interest as well, in the sense that I represent many constituents who are affected by the decision of Virgin in Swansea, as is my colleague, Julie James. The first tranche of those staff did leave in November, and there will be a further two phases planned for this year. Virgin Media's out-placement support team has taken on responsibility for providing staff with on-site access to key partners of our Welsh Government's taskforce, including Careers Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions, and local employers. The jobs fair in October took place on the Virgin Media site, and there are further jobs fairs planned to coincide with the additional tranches of staff who will be leaving. So, those further jobs fairs will be timed in relation to those further tranches, as I say, of people who will be leaving the company.