内容摘要：The number waiting more than a year for treatment has been fluctuating but rose again to the highest figure since November 2022, close to 160,000.

The number waiting more than a year for treatment has been fluctuating but rose again to the highest figure since November 2022, close to 160,000.

On Thursday the recently installed Labour Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens held her first meeting as chair of the Tata Steel transition board, set up by the previous Conservative UK government to support people and businesses affected by the plans.It includes representatives of unions, businesses, the Welsh government and local politicians.

She said she has commissioned a "rapid assessment of how we can offer immediate support"."We will work collaboratively with a single focus to support our steel industry and affected communities," she said.“But businesses and workers are already feeling the impact of Tata Steel’s transition. The time for talking is over."

The UK government said that Tata Steel had "re-confirmed its commitment to offer an enhanced redundancy package."It added that it had begun asking for expressions of interests from employees which will run to 7 August.

Tata Steel has closed one of its blast furnaces, and plans to close its second in September, as part of moving to greener production.

The previous Conservative government pledged £500m to Tata Steel towards the cost of a new £1.25bn electric arc furnace, which will melt scrap steel, and requires far fewer workers than traditional blast furnaces.“We will write to people immediately to explain the plans are quite likely to change so we don't know whether their properties are definitely going to be demolished or remodelled at all.

“It will take us some time to confirm that and I am afraid it is just inevitable, there is no point giving people a message that we are not 100% sure of ourselves.“At the same time, we really recognise that we need to try to get some certainty for residents as quickly as possible."

The deputy prime minister has told the BBC she wants the government's Right to Buy housing scheme to continue but that it needed to be "fairer" to the taxpayer.Angela Rayner insisted she was committed to keeping it, as it was important that social tenants were able to buy the homes they had lived in for a long time.