Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed in his Department's Rapid Response Team set up to assist BAE Systems employees affected by recent job losses; in which regions those staff are based; and how many BAE Systems staff potentially affected by job losses have been contacted by a member of that Rapid Response team.

Jobcentre staff are in contact with BAE Systems and stand ready to offer support once the consultation period ends and a decision on redundancies has been made.

Each of our Jobcentre Districts deploy resources to assist with Redundancy Support which varies according to the situation and the requirements of the workforce.

The Rapid Response Service is delivered in partnership with a range of national and local partners, including National Careers Service and local service providers. Working closely with BAE Systems we will agree and provide a tailored package which could include:

• matching to known local job vacancies;
• helping to construct or improve their CV and enhance their job-search skills;
• providing general information about benefits and how to make a claim;
• identifying transferable skills and training needs;
• providing job-focussed training to develop vocational skills in demand in the local labour market;
• help to meet discretionary costs e.g.: travel to training course expenses
• where there is scope to do so, support might be delivered on a group basis, for example by bringing redundant workers and employers together at a jobs fair.
• Working with Talent Retention Solution (TRS) to bring together specialists whose jobs may be at risk with companies that are looking to recruit skilled staff