Another signatory to the letter criticising Pride in Place, Jenny Rathbone, said the policy was “pitting one deprived area from another” and that the money had been “top-sliced” from funding to the Welsh government.
“So, that is why this is so devastating and it is absolutely about the everyday affairs of the people I represent,” she said.
Conservative Senedd member James Evans, meanwhile, said arguments about the devolution settlement “are not only tiring, they are actively distracting us from the serious challenges that the people of Wales face”.
Responding to the debate, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies repeated Welsh government calls to devolve powers over the Crown Estate and the justice system.
“The strength of our record as a Welsh Labour government and as a Welsh Labour party is that we stand up for devolution and we deliver for the people of Wales,” he said.
Stevens was in Port Talbot announcing an additional £22m from the UK government for a transition fund to support 2,800 redundant Tata steel workers and to help local businesses adapt to a move to greener steel production using a new electric arc furnace.
It takes the total funding pot to £122m, including £20m from Tata, for training courses, to start and expand companies and for investment in new equipment.
Stevens visited engineering JES group, whose academy is training dozens of steelworkers.
She said the money was to “support people coming out of the steelworks”.
“This is to support businesses who need to diversify and grow, it’s to re-skill people,” she said.
“Here at JES they’ve been taking on lots of people from the steel works to retrain them for jobs that are going to be available through the investment that we’re making into Wales and across the UK.”
Additional reporting by Teleri Glyn Jones