Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the effect of the collapse of the Arcadia Group on employees of that company in Newport West constituency.

We understand this will be deeply worrying news for Arcadia’s employees and their families in the Newport West constituency, and the Government stands ready to support them. BEIS officials met with their counterparts from the Welsh Government on 4th December when the situation at Arcadia was discussed. I want to pay particular tribute to the hard-working staff across the country who have kept these well recognised brands going in difficult times for so long.

Whilst no redundancies were announced as a result of the appointment of administrators and stores will continue to trade, we stand ready to support anyone affected by redundancies. If people need financial support quickly, they may be able to claim Universal Credit, New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance or New Style Employment and Support Allowance. We are also doubling the number of frontline Work Coaches across our network of jobcentres to ensure people have access to bespoke support and have launched the £2bn Kickstart scheme to create opportunities for young people.