PLAID CYMRU leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has accused both the UK and Welsh Labour governments of turning their backs on the people of Port Talbot, calling for urgent investment and a strategy to secure the future of steelmaking in Wales.

During a visit to the town on Tuesday (Apr 15), Mr ap Iorwerth and South Wales West MS Luke Fletcher met with residents and former steelworkers, pledging to stand with what they described as a “betrayed community” following the closure of Tata Steel’s blast furnaces last year.

The visit comes just days after the UK Government announced emergency legislation to rescue the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe—prompting renewed anger in Wales that no such action was taken for Port Talbot.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “This is a community angry at having been betrayed. The UK Government took action to save jobs in Scunthorpe but left Port Talbot to deal with devastating job losses alone.

“Plaid Cymru will do all we can to fight for the investment needed here. The Labour Government in Westminster must deliver on its so-called enhanced deal and ensure Port Talbot receives its fair share of the UK’s £2.5bn steel fund.”

He added: “It was in the gift of both Labour and the Conservatives to act when it mattered. Now Labour cannot simply dismiss our demands, as they did when we asked for nationalisation to be put on the table. Further inaction is not an option—they owe it to this community.”

Call for urgent Senedd debate

Plaid has written to the Welsh Government’s Trefnydd requesting a formal Senedd debate to examine how the UK Government’s emergency steel measures will impact Wales, and what support will be made available to the communities affected by job losses.

Luke Fletcher MS, Plaid’s spokesperson for Economy and Energy, said there are “serious questions” for the Welsh Labour Government to answer.

“We must hold the Labour Welsh Government to account at the earliest opportunity,” he said. “They must explain what discussions they have had with their UK counterparts, what impact this new legislation will have on the promised Steel Strategy for Wales, and what specific support will be provided to those who lost their livelihoods in Port Talbot.

“The people of this town feel completely let down. There must be a full and open debate in the Senedd, and it must happen urgently.”

Port Talbot’s blast furnaces were shut down in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 2,800 jobs. Tata Steel is now moving toward a greener model using electric arc furnace technology, which will require fewer workers and has left the local community worried about long-term economic decline.

One in 14 households affected as housing crisis deepens

MORE than 94,000 households in Wales are waiting for a social home—equivalent to one in every fourteen homes across the country.

The figures, obtained by Shelter Cymru through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to every local authority in Wales, reveal the scale of the housing emergency. In total, the waiting lists cover approximately 170,000 people, including around 45,000 children.

Despite the mounting demand, just 2,600 new social homes were built in Wales last year. At this rate, it would take 35 years to meet the current need, campaigners have warned.

The charity is calling for urgent action and a step change in investment from the Welsh Government, warning that the housing crisis is having a devastating impact on individuals and families—particularly single-parent households, who are disproportionately represented on waiting lists.

Shelter Cymru is supporting Louise*, a single mother living in temporary accommodation with her two children after being made homeless due to rent arrears. Louise said: “It’s horrendous because you’re living in limbo. You live a completely different life because you don’t know what’s next. All I want is somewhere permanent so I can get my life back to normal, so I can get a job again. But it’s just the waiting. We’re not able to make plans. We’re stuck here. You can’t think about planning your future.”

Ruth Power, CEO of Shelter Cymru, said the figures should serve as a wake-up call.

“These new figures are a wake-up call,” she said. “It is unacceptable that more than 94,000 households are forced to wait years for a place they can call home. We must confront the reality that, as a nation, we are failing to meet the needs of our communities.

“Investing in social homes is a moral obligation; it is an investment in a stable foundation for people’s lives, health and futures. But it’s also a practical solution to a pressing problem. If we don’t deliver more social homes, it will ramp up the financial pressures on local authorities that are already struggling to cope with local demand.”

Shelter Cymru is calling on the Welsh Government to increase funding to build or acquire new social homes and develop a clear national strategy. The charity says social homes must be placed at the heart of housing policy in Wales.

The Welsh Government has committed to delivering 20,000 new social homes by the end of 2026, but Shelter Cymru and its partners say this will not be enough.

Alicja Zalesinska, Chief Executive of Tai Pawb and a leader of the “Back the Bill” campaign, said: “The positive steps from Welsh Government aimed at meeting people’s housing needs clearly fall short of the fundamental change necessary to address the housing emergency.

“I have no doubt that this need for change is felt deeply by the 170,000 people on the waiting lists, who simply cannot wait 35 years for their housing situation to be resolved.

“That’s why the Back the Bill coalition believes that addressing the housing crisis must be a central mission for the government—and it can only be achieved by hardwiring this commitment into Welsh legislation by introducing the right to a good home.”

Shelter Cymru is working with the Bevan Foundation to campaign for long-term reforms to the social housing system and boost the supply of affordable homes.

*Name changed to protect identity.

A CALL to convert a former pigsty and a Pembrokeshire farm outbuilding into holiday lets providing accommodation “to meet the needs of the modern tourist” has been given the go-ahead by county planners.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Mr and Mrs Morgan of Fenton Home Farm, near Crundale, Haverfordwest sought permission for farm diversification to create two additional holiday cottages, with four units already in operation, with a replacement pigsty and caravan.

A supporting statement through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd said: “The proposed additional holiday units are situated within a complex that currently has planning permission for four holiday units, namely Garden Cottage, Blueberry Cottage, Cowslip Cottage and Meadow View Cottage. The site is accessed off an existing track to Fenton Home Farm from the minor county road that runs between Crundale and Wiston.”

It added: “This is a full application to change the use of two stone barns to self-catering holiday units (partly in retrospect).  No extensions are proposed other than cosmetic improvements. The main house, Fenton Home Farm, has operated four holiday lets for many years, as well as long term lets. As such the proposal is intended to extend and complement the existing holiday letting business.”

The statement says the first unit proposed was” a simple stone barn /pigsty with corrugated metal roof,” now renovated to afford comfortable living spaces inside; the second unit a stone barn, currently open to the elements and without a roof.

“This application makes effective and efficient use of existing buildings that is no longer required for agricultural storage purposes.  Making use of existing building reduces the need for further development in the countryside to the benefit of the local environment.  The units will provide holiday accommodation to meet the needs of the modern tourist.  The social benefits of providing holiday accommodation for visitors to Pembrokeshire is combined with the economic advantages of supplementing the holiday business income from Fenton Home Farm.”

An officer report recommending approval said: “The additional two holiday lets would be seen in context with the farm complex and converted outbuildings and is therefore considered to be of a scale and nature compatible with the location in compliance with [policy].

It says the former pigsty building “would not result in any overlooking or loss of privacy to the occupants of the main farmhouse or the converted outbuildings,” and the second let “would not result in a detrimental impact on residential amenity,” and the scale and design of the building “would be in keeping with the character of the site and farm complex”.

The application was conditionally approved by county planners.