Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 9 July 2024.
Andrew RT Davies
Conservative
1:41,
9 July 2024
Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, yesterday you hosted the new UK Prime Minister. He talked of the Tata plant—[Interruption.] I thought I'd get you a cheer, at least, once in this Chamber, First Minister. [Laughter.] You can thank me later. The new UK Prime Minister came to the Senedd yesterday. Obviously, on everyone's mind is the Tata Steel situation in Port Talbot, which is of pressing time constraints now that Tata have shut the one blast furnace, blast furnace 5, and, obviously, there's the timeline to blast furnace 4 in September. Can you enlighten the Chamber today as to whether the new UK Government has presented a new plan to Tata Steel to secure the longevity of blast furnace 4 so it can stay open as long as possible? And, if that plan has been submitted, what timeline have Tata Steel indicated they are working to to assess it and, ultimately, give you an answer on it?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
