Public First carried out an extended immersive research study in Port Talbot in December 2024. Researchers spent a week living in the town, engaging with residents in an attempt to understand how the recent closure of the steelworks’ last blast furnace- as well as decades of uncertainty – has impacted them. This report, A Job for Life, summarises findings from that research. These include that residents:

1. Believed the worst impacts of the furnace closures had already been felt by the town;
2. Distrusted that the electric arc furnace would materialise;
3. Noticed a surprisingly positive change in the closure’s impact on the local environment, whilst also being sceptical of the positive climate impacts of the closure.

 You can read the full report here: Port Talbot