20/04/2016 BBC Wales Today

Unions say plans for a management buyout

of Tata Steel's UK operations could provide a secure

The leaders of the six main parties in the Assembly Election

have gone head to head on TV for the first time in the campaign.

And almost 800 people attend a public

meeting on the future of secondary education in Powys.

Unions say plans for a management buyout of Tata Steel's UK operations

could provide a secure future for the company, and be

But they say there's still a lot of work to be done.

It's understood the bid, led by the man who runs

its Port Talbot site, would mean steel production continues there,

Here's our Business Correspondent, Brian Meechan.

Stuart Wilkie has years of experience in the steel industry.

He has had senior roles, including at Ebbw Vale, before then

When Tata bought that company's other Welsh steel plants,

he went on to run Llanwern, part of which was mothballed last

In January, he told Wales Today he hoped the 750 job

losses at the site would be enough to save it.

We are very confident as a management and a workforce

that we believe we actually can turn this industry around.

But a Welsh delegation, then headed to Mumbai for a crucial

board meeting, discovered that wasn't to be under

It took a look at the survival plan put forward by Stuart Wilkie

and his team and decided ultimately that the idea of turning this around

in 18 months from loss-making to profit was just too risky.

The Government's involvement as a co-investor is gone to be

vitally important in this and that will give confidence to other

investors who might need to be brought in to provide the funding

What is different now is that the UK Government is prepared

That could include help with energy costs and commercial loans.

The Welsh Government's also making more than ?60 million available.

We've got to think about what this means in terms of Welsh jobs,

the Welsh economy and the fact that it's not just the people

in Port Talbot and Llanwern and Trostre, it is also what it

A management buyout would mean bosses and workers

investing their own money, too, and some say they would

I think it could be expanded, not only to the workforce

but to their communities, to the families, to the retired

steelworkers who spent their lives working in Port Talbot plant.

The management buyout plan would see steel-making remain as it is now,

It's going to be very difficult, let's be honest about that,

but that's really what should be at the heart of any future

for Tata Steel in the UK, so I'm delighted and I welcome all readers.

The two governments, workers and unions seem to be

welcoming the proposals for a management buyout.

It has certainly added to the options on the table.

More than eight hundred people attended a public meeting

at a school in south Powys tonight, over council plans to close four

secondary education in Powys, because of a surplus

Many people have voiced concerns over the impact it could have

But the council says that addressing the issue is integral

to securing more funding for secondary education.

Unemployment in Wales has fallen to its lowest rate since the global

recession and is now lower than the UK average.

The number of people who were unemployed in Wales fell

by 5,000 between December and February, while

On the face of it it is positive and that is the first time in a few

years this has happened but at the same time there are some challenges

and the quality of the jobs created are those which are perhaps not as

high value as we would like and also we still have higher than average

for the UK level of economic inactivity.

A jury has heard from a man who claims he was bought,

Michael Hughes told Cardiff Crown Court that prison

was like a holiday camp compared with the life he had

Mr Connors and three other men are accused of forced labour.

The body of a man from Wrexham, who'd been missing in

Harry Greaves disappeared earlier this month,

after setting off on a solo hike, two days before his 29th birthday.

New figures show a further deterioration in the waiting time

performance of hospital emergency departments.

The target is that 95 percent of patients spend less than 4 hours

in A and E before being admitted, transferred or discharged,

but the figure for March was 76 percent - a drop of around one

The leaders of the six main parties in the Assembly Election have gone

head-to-head for the first time in the campaign in a live

Our political editor Nick Servini was there.

They have all released their manifestos and been questioned

individually but this was the first time they have faced each other on

television. The crisis facing the steel industry dominated the opening

exchanges. There was a degree of similarity and many of the responses

with support being expressed to a management buyout but they are kept

candidate struck a different tone. Since Jones became the First

Minister we have lost it might other major metal refining plants and all

of a sudden we have an election and everyone has crocodile tears and is

wearing the badges. We were worthy years ago? Also in the wake of the

steel crisis, the Greens championed opportunities in renewables. There

is a huge opportunity in terms of renewable industry. We have abundant

natural resources and good skilled workers like yourselves who have

transferable skills and we should be taking that opportunity. On the

wider subject of economic development there was disagreement

on who should take the credit for a recent and word investment successes

and whether the Welsh Development Agency should be brought back, but

Jones focused on some recent job announcements. It is nothing to do

with the UK Government, just ask Aston Martin. They say the reason

they came to Wales and beat off 19 other locations was the passion and

investment of the Welsh government. The debate gathered momentum when

education came up. The Conservatives, and the Liberal

Democrats launched attacks on Labour's record in power. The

government has said you take your eye off the ball and that is

inexcusable, those children's life chances. Children were in class is

not getting the start life needed than teachers are to be

congratulated and students congratulated for getting the best

ever GCSE results. The final subject was on health, again Carwyn Jones

faced sustained criticism especially from the leader of the conservatives

who accused Labour of mismanagement over waiting times. The political

leadership over the last five years in particular has delivered a

doubling of waiting times. We have not had a Cancer Drugs Fund in

Wales. But there were opportunities for the parties to pitch their

policies including Leanne Wood on her plan to improve recruitment. We

also have to make the NHS an attractive place to work and at the

moment that is very stressful and I have spoken to many professionals

who are overwhelmed by the stress in the system. We have 20 policies and

our manifesto designed to make the NHS in more attractive place. And so

round one is over. The campaign now continues on our list and they will

gather in earnest at the same time next week for the final debate

before the election. So what did we learn tonight? In terms of

substance, we learn something significant early on in the debate,

which is that Carwyn Jones said he would consider taking an equity

stake in any new steel enterprise, the most directly has been on this,

and when pressed by Leanne Wood the leader of Plaid Cymru. In terms of

the style of the debate, at times it resembled First Minister's Questions

and behind the scenes Labour will not be too happy with that because

they think it reinforces the perception of Carwyn Jones as a

leader but never the less they aren't Wood and Kirsty Williams or

the ones attacking, Ukip and the Greens were not really engaging on

that matter but I have to say it was a fairly confident debut performance

by the Greens' leader. It was an opportunity for the parties to lay

out policies but inevitably the most dramatic exchanges were about

attacks on Labour's record in power and as a result of that it was a

tough night for the First Minister. Another interesting point is that

contrary to some of the debates we have seen in recent months, the most

passionate debate was about education rather than the NHS.

And of course we're currently touring Wales, finding out

what matters to you in the run-up to the Assembly Election.

With details of the next stop, here's Jamie.

We are leaving Llanelwedd then heading to Beaumaris on Anglesey

on day four of our two-week tour of Wales.

As polling day gets ever closer, we'll be looking at the energy

projects popping up along the North Wales coast.

If you're in the area, we'd love to see you.

On to sport, and it's been announced that Newport Gwent Dragons have

parted company with their Director of Rugby, Lyn Jones,

Jones has been away from his job recently, through illness.

Head coach Kingsley Jones will take charge for the rest of the season.

Glamorgan head coach Robert Croft says his side were below

the standard they set themselves in nearly every department.

In their opening County Championship match of the season,

Leicestershire eased to a ten-wicket win at the Swalec Stadium.

Sue's here, and it's been a lovely day for most of us but will it last?

It's not going to last but it was the warmest day of the year so far,

this was the hotspot at 19.2 Celsius and another fine and by datamodel

with sunny spells. Overnight, largely dry and clear with light

winds so the temperature will drop away allowing frost to form. 2-3dC

for towns across mid to North Wales, less cold in the south-west where it

is cloudier. Tomorrow, another chilly start with early mist but

that will clear in the April sunshine. Plenty of sunny spells and

some high-level clouds pushing in from the south and west so it will

turn a bit hazy with the breeze picking up at another fine and

relatively warm day, 11 Celsius in north-west Scotland, 16 in

north-west England and a fine day in Wales. A bit more close around so

probably cooler than today but the temperature still holding up and we

start to see some changes tomorrow night, a weather front starts to

push on from the south-west so Thursday evening might start fine

and dry but cloud will thicken from the south with the band of rain

trying to push up and the winds picking up, less cold than in recent

nights. It looks like that front stalls on Friday saw the best chance

of dry weather the further north you are, outbreaks more likely across

and South Wales, showery later and brisk easterly winds and feeling

cooler at 8-12dC. Chilly on Friday and called again into the weekend.

Northerly winds introduce Arctic a sort is a mix of sunshine and

showers but those showers could be went to the especially on high

ground so, worth making the best of the last of the warm weather

tomorrow. We're back with updates in Breakfast

from six tomorrow morning. From all of us on the programme,

good night.