ÖPIK SECURES MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE ON LOCAL EMPLOYMENT (Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats)

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Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats <montlibdems@gmail.com>

ÖPIK SECURES MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE ON LOCAL EMPLOYMENT

December 17, 2008 4:24 PM

During Welsh Grand Committee today, Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, raised with the Secretary of State for Wales the significant number of jobs at risk in his constituency in both Gareth Pugh Ltd. in Abermule and Stadco in Llanfyllin.

During the debate, Lembit said:

"Gareth Pugh Ltd. is a very successful company in Abermule, but is experiencing difficulties as a direct result of the credit squeeze on his borrowing caused by a major bank. Meanwhile, Stadco in Llanfyllin has announced its intention to shed 106 jobs out of a total workforce of 150. Will the Secretary of State meet to discuss what can be done to assist in both these very distressing situations in order to safeguard employment in Montgomeryshire?"

In response to Mr Öpik, the Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy MP, agreed to meet with Lembit to discuss the potential steep increase in unemployment in Montgomeryshire.

The Secretary of State also stressed the importance of banks lending to businesses in order to ensure their survival, and he will continue to work with banks to encourage this.

Commenting after the exchange, Lembit said:

"These businesses are vital to the Montgomeryshire economy and I am very anxious about the implications of these job cuts for other local businesses.

"It is clear that Wales is bearing the brunt of the unemployment rise with a higher unemployment rate than any other country in the UK and we must ensure that measures are in place to see Wales through this economic downturn."

Unemployment in Wales rose again to 94,000 last month, with 6% of the workforce out of work. Between August and October, unemployment in Wales climbed 14,000.