01/04/2016 BBC Wales Today

what action will be taken to try and save their jobs.

We've been fighting this for months and months, now they come in. They

should have done it ages ago. We don't want hand-outs or charity, we

want to show people what we can do. Sajid Javad tells me they would be

no closures in the next few weeks at least despite the crisis facing the

industry. It's a project that

helped Cerys after she went missing. The children's commissioner says

lessons could be learnt A pay rise for 250,000 workers

here with the new living wage but what effect could it have

on small businesses? Why a gold cast of Shirley Bassey

has appeared in the walls The safety of Boxing under scrutiny,

World Champion Lee Selby, who's preparing to defend his title,

dismisses calls for the rules Good evening. The UK Government's

Business Secretary says they will be no closures of wealth Ashley works

over the next few weeks. That is despite the crisis -- Welsh

steelworks. Sajid Javad 's comments were made in Port Talbot since Tata

announced it is putting UK plans up for sale. Our political editor has

been there all day. After the chaos, confusion and concern of the past

few days, and in tense deliberate intent from Sajid Javad to deal with

the criticism he has faced coming here today. It was also an attempt

to allay the immediate concerns, flanked by the Welsh Secretary, Alan

Cairns, he spoke to a number of the 200 or so steelworkers protesting

outside the site. There was no anger, but real tension.

Have we got an industry? The industry is absolutely vital.

Face to face at last, nearly three days after the bombshell that Tata's

Welsh plans are for sale, Sajid Javad met the workers affected. The

concern was there for all to see. The Business Secretary had earlier

met senior managers and union leaders to find out more about the

sale and to try to give the assurance.

Well, as you know, this is the biggest steel plant in Britain

facing a crisis, why has taken you so to come here? I was here last

month. I'm pleased to be back here. Since the crisis has hit this

industry? We've been working with Tata for a number of weeks on this

issue, they had concerns about Port Talbot. In a lot of that, is

commercially sensitive, it is up to Tata to announce the news. We want

the best possible chance to secure a long-term future for Port Talbot.

on. How long have we got to find a buyer

before Tata starts closing steel plant in Wales?

I believe that Tata is a responsible company, they have shown that

elsewhere where they have out situations in the past. I think

there is no reason to believe that it will be different. Weeks or

months? Given the size of the plant or the

importance of it it's not a matter of weeks, but the important thing is

that we have a responsible salad. We have the UK Government working

closely with the Welsh government, we are working with any potential

new buyer to secure the future. What is the most likely scenario? Is

it that Tata's Welsh steel operations will be sold, Locke,

stock and barrel or carved up and sold individually?

I don't think it's helpful to speculate on what exactly, what form

the future they will take will stop but what is more likely?

I don't think I can say that. It involves so many different parties.

What we've got is an agreement we've been working on with Tata four

weeks. It's only come to light now after the board has made that

announcement and that is why I am pleased to be here to speak to Tata.

It's been good to speak to others who are not fully aware about how

much the UK Government is engaged to make sure there is a long-term

future here in Port Talbot. What can the UK Government offered

to a buyer? We have made it clear that any buyer

that comes forward once the process has formally been kicked off, we

will offer full government support to see how we can help that sale go

forward. And so not a time when the UK

Government is under intense pressure for its handling of the crisis in

the steel industry Sajid Javad came to the Lion's done to try to send

out a message that the UK Government is determined to keep steel-making

here in Port Talbot. Any reassurance?

The reassurances that this country, from my understanding, we need the

steel industry. By saying that, to me, he's not going to the door.

What did you take from it? It depends how much you trust them. Do

we really trust them. Do you? Know. But it seems positive.

It is a lot more positive than yesterday, but we need more

information. They said things in the past and they haven't helped us,

we've been fighting this for months and months, and now, when it's up

for sale it coming. They should have done it ages ago.

Few details have image from the talks but they were welcomed by

union leaders. What is the UK Government going to put on the table

if there is a buyer? The detail of that was not

discussed. I was happy to look the man in the eye and for him to say we

are committed to making sure there is a UK steel industry. To humour

that was important. Do you believe him? I give everybody a chance. Now

the time comes to find a buyer for an industry haemorrhaging money. So

did we learn anything today about the crisis? More details are

emerging about what happens in the week, Sajid Javad rushed back from

Australia where he has been highly criticised, he was told by Tata that

a deal needed to be done within three to four weeks. Now he says

there is a longer time frame. Speaking to people on site,

behind-the-scenes, you get a sense of the big question, the hunt for a

buyer. An independent consultancy will be appointed to scout around

for those who could be interested. Ordinarily they would be able to

give details about what the UK Government will be offering, there

was not the time to do that. It is obviously clear to many people that

the real challenge will be trying to get a buyer to take this all on in

one deal. Rather than the other scenario of breaking it up and

selling it in chunks. Something many people here there. Thank you, Nick.

So with the future of our steel plants hanging in the balance,

how important is the business and how appealing is it

Our economics correspondent, Sarah Dickens, is here.

Despite the problems in the industry, steel is a valuable

product and making it uses lots of electricity,

water and involves lots of suppliers, and for all these

reasons it accounts for 2.2% of GVA , that's the value of the services

That doesn't sound a lot, but it's three times

Even the wages, ?200 million a year paid to welsh workers,

have a big impact, money that gets spent back with other

It's on site in part is important, but the impact extends beyond the

factory gates to other suppliers involved in operations. So those

subcontractors, transport providers, and many other providers of services

and many other providers of services that are used.

With Tata looking to sell and Port Talbot losing around ?1m

a day, what would make Tata attractive to a buyer or investor?

Making steel from raw materials runs up huge energy bills

and the industry says UK producers pay nearly twice as much as those

There are calls for the government to guarantee it will use a high

proportion of British steel for large projects like HS2.

And with EU partners it could bring in duties to make Chinese

steel less attractive, twice as much Chinese steel entered

the UK in 2014 compared with the year before

These are Tata s plants in Wales, and the number of people who work

there, some will be more attractive to investors than others .

The easiest to sell might be Shotton where they coat steel

with specialist products and Cogent, the former Orb works in Newport,

which makes electrical steel for the power industry.

The most difficult to sell is probably Port Talbot itself,

the heart of the industry and where most of the steel

Sarah Dickins, thank you, and you can get all the latest news

and analysis on our website bbc.co.uk/walesnews.

In other news, a project that helps to prevent young people running away

from home, has been praised by the Children's Commissioner for

Sally Holland says police forces and councils in other areas

could learn from the Gwent Missing Children's project to try to prevent

They were shameful failures to protect vulnerable children

on a scale so large it made national headlines.

The appalling sexual abuse suffered by nearly 1,500 children in

In each of these scandals victims were reported missing

It was a sign something was wrong, but dots were not joined up.

This is the Gwent Missing Children's hub in Torfaen, on the wall

is a reminder, if ever it were needed, about what they are

This would equate to child sexual exploitation and the

For three years they developed a database, pulling together

information from police, schools and social services.

Those agencies now use the database to join the dots and get the real

picture about why someone might be running away.

we can look at indicators of child sexual exploitation before

It can be something as simple as not getting on with mum or dad.

We've got a worker that will go and do sessions with the family

They listen to you, not other people.

Cerys is 14, she went missing when she met up with someone

with her family is better and she is less likely

You think about your family and your relationship,

An independent board says firm inclusion is difficult

but there is evidence that the project is working,

fewer young people going missing repeatedly.

It points to examples where police may have saved money or time by not

were searching for the same young people week after week.

It all suggests that more young people are being protected.

The kind of exploitation that children were exposed to in rather,

Rochdale and Oxford could happen anywhere in Wales, including

We need this kind of response everywhere.

The Gwent project doesn't claim to work in every case,

but experts say there are lessons to learn from it.

Police in Caerphilly are investigating reports

of historical sex offences and concealment of a birth.

Officers have been searching a house at Pen-Y-Bryn, near Gelligaer.

A local man is assisting Gwent police force with its inquiries.

A family who turned their Denbighshire B into a cannabis

factory have been ordered to pay back more than ?55,000.

Chemistry teacher Susan McKay and her husband Owen,

grew the drug in the seven-bed house in Llandyrnog.

They were given suspended jail terms, along with their son,

after they admitted conspiring to supply cannabis.

?7.20 an hour, from today low-paid workers have seen a 50p rise

in their salary with the introduction of the new National

It's estimated up to 125,000 people here in Wales could

But there have been mixed reviews to the changes so far,

as Abigail Neal has been finding out.

By the seaside in Saundersfoot, one in three Pembrokeshire workers

So how welcome is this news of a pay rise?

Meet Mandy, she owns a hair salon, and will now pay two

of her staff the higher wage, ?7.20 an hour rather than ?6.70.

I will have two increase the prices, which I don't like doing will stop I

like to offer affordable service here. By putting the prices at it

doesn't benefit the business, it just means I pay more tax.

One of those to gain is Mandy's sister, Nikki,

whose earnings go up by ?12 pounds a week,

but she's worried that gain will just be cancelled out.

Obviously, there's a limit about what I am able to earn before it is

taken off, not just myself, but other people. They will lose

benefits, what they gain in wages. They will lose benefits,

what they gain in wages. Then there's Harley,just turned 19,

she's on ?5.30 an hour, and won't benefit

because she's too young. I think it should be extended

because people my age could be living on their own. They could

Across retail, caring and catering, low pay covers many sectors,

and the think tank Resolution Foundation estimates around 125,000

people across Wales will be affected by this change.

Although this is being called, differences about the costs

of living, the living wage foundation says it should be higher

at ?8.25, and they want employers to pay above the bare legal minimum.

Burns in Kidwelly sells pet food and runs a farm shop.

The starting salary here is ?8 25 an hour for everyone.

was a farmer, he said money is made to go around. If people don't have

money to spend the economy can't thrive.

It's a complicated picture, higher wages sound good,

but they don't always mean everyone is a winner.

With the safety of boxing under the spotlight, world champion

Lee Selby says there's no need to change the rules.

And I'll have the lowdown on how you can tell the next government

Anything you would do if you were First Minister? More stuff for the

More young people than ever are taking part in arts

The findings have been released on the first day of a weekend

of activities designed to encourage all of us to be more creative.

A giant, gold statue of Dame Shirley Bassey has helped

start the Get Creative campaign, as our arts and media correspondent

The feisty singer, now a gilded warrior.

Dame Shirley Bassey landed on the balcony at Caernarfon Castle

this morning, the sculpture a cross between the girl from Tiger Bay

and Boudicca, the ancient Celtic queen.

It may be April the first but this is no fool's gold,

a symbol that the arts are worth fighting for,

according to the man who designed it.

I wanted to kind of introduce a new queen, or a dame of culture.

The idea is to jolt people into action.

It is a call to arms, that is why she is carrying a spear.

And over the weekend there are performances,

hands-on lessons and opportunities to try something creative

And it's as new research shows more and more of us are taking

Over 40 % of us tried at least one arts activity last year,

For young people the figure's much higher, almost 90 %

At Rubicon Dance in Cardiff they're getting stuck in with a breakdancing

workshop one of the events its hosting as part

and finding out what's on offer from the arts in Wales.

Not many people know about it, they think it's too

hard but don't know until you try it.

And this is all about the chance to do it?

The golden Dame keeps her pose in Caernarfon for the rest

of the weekend, the organisers hope the Get Creative events

will encourage more of us to take a shine to the arts.

Huw Thomas reporting , less dancing more boxing now,

The sport of Boxing is as safe as it can be, that's according

to the World Champion boxer, Lee Selby.

The fighter from Barry was speaking just days after fellow boxer,

Nick Blackwell, suffered serious injury in the ring.

He remains in an induced coma following a bleed on the brain.

But Selby, who's preparing to defend his world title next week,

says there's no need to change the rules.

Eight days before his world title defence, and the safety of the sport

Lee Selby loves is again under scrutiny.

Since the birth of his two daughters, suffering serious injury

in the ring has become a real worry, but changing the rules,

Especially with the British boxing under control,

I don't think nothing should be changed.

It's rare that an injury happens in boxing, but when it does

Questions over safety have been raised after the contest

for the British middleweight title last Saturday.

By the time it was stopped in the tenth round a huge swelling

appeared above Nick Blackwell's left eye.

He's been a medically induced coma to allow swelling

Lee Selby says he has total faith in his corner to throw in the towel

during a fight if they could see he was in danger

He believes no one in boxing knows him better than his trainer.

Changes have been made over the last two to three years,

the introduction of MRI scans, full medicals, blood tests,

We have an anaesthetist ringside, an ambulance ready.

A week tomorrow Lee Selby will go head to head with the Philadelphia

boxer Eric Kanter, the American has lost three of his 21

professional fights, and been disqualified

Lee Selby won the world title back in May last year,

this will be his second title defence in front of 20,000 fans

Even though it is in London Lee Selby hopes the home

crowd will help him to victory, the boxer from Barry is hoping

Football, the Bluebirds are hoping for a record crowd

for a Championship game at the Cardiff City Stadium tomorrow

when they face play-off rivals Derby County.

The Ninian Stand's upper tier will be open for the first

It was built two years ago, then closed because of poor ticket sales.

Cardiff are three points behind the Championship play-off places.

Elsewhere , the Swansea City manager, Francesco Guidolin,

whose side travels to Stoke in the Premier League tomorrow says

he's unconcerned about speculation linking Brendan Rodgers,

who left the club four years ago, with a return to the Liberty

In League Two, Newport County travel to Yeovil Town.

Wrexham take on 2nd placed Forest Green Rovers,

the Dragons are three points outside the play-off places in the National

There are two big rugby derbies this weekend,

The Dragons, in 10th place, face the Ospreys, who're 9th.

Their backs coach, Gruff Rees, says they're still hopeful

Tomorrow the Scarlets, who are the leading Welsh region

in the Pro 12 in third place, take on the Blues.

The Assembly Election campaign is underway with just five weeks

to go before you can cast your vote on who you want in power

Well, during the next few weeks, you've got the chance to tell them

Have you wished you could get your ideas straight into the hands of the

well, now is your chance. This is my manifesto 2016. At the moment it is

empty. But between now and polling day I plan on filling it up with

your ideas. To do this I'm taking it across the country to ask what you'd

do if you were in charge of running Wales.

I would reorganise the NHS. I'd try my best to create more jobs.

I would ensure that all disabled people get equal rights.

We'll be on the election tour, starting in Haverfordwest on the

18th of April, over two weeks will travel the length and breadth of

wheels to find out what really matters to you in this election.

I'll be bringing my manifesto 2016 to every stop along the way to fill

it with the issues you really care about. If you aren't able to come

along and you can get in touch by e-mail, the details are on screen.

I will be percent in the final manifesto 2016 to the new First

Minister, they'll know exactly what you want. If you want to make sure

your voices heard then get involved with my manifesto 2016.

And lots of you have already been in touch with us

about what you want to see in my Manifesto 2016:

We love hearing your ideas, so keep your suggestions coming in.

Don't forget, they will be passed on to the people in power,

Let's take a look at the weather, now.

Well, it is not a straightforward forecast. Rain and funny spells

turning warmer for everyone. The complications come from this weather

front bringing thicker cloud, rain. Instead of passing through it will

attract. Some rain in the West but it will stay dry further east. Brisk

southerly winds and milder than recent nights. Cloud is holding at

the temperatures. There will be wearing at first tomorrow in the

north and west, overcast at times. That rain leaves to relieve a dry

afternoon. It will feel milder. Winds ease introducing warmer air.

10 Celsius in Granada. We keep that if low overnight, but to no pressure

surrounds the UK. Showers are never too far away. We could see some of

them spilling northwards on Saturday into Sunday. Another mild night for

April. On Sundays is funny spells but probably a cloudy day for most.

The chance of a few scattered showers. Windy but southerly winds

with highs of 11 to 14. A lot of dry weather this weekend, some sunshine

but if you showers as well. After a colder than average March warmer

weather, at least for the start of April. Today's picture, a beautiful

sunrise over Cardiff base. If you have photos to tell the weather

story you can send them to us via e-mail or Twitter. All you could

become a weather watcher. Tonight's top story the Business Secretary

said they will be no closures of Welsh Steelers over the next few

weeks despite a crisis in the industry.

I'll be back with an update at 8pm and after the News at Ten,