Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking in response to BT Group's reported plans to make 10,000 British workers redundant in the next five years.
Answered by Matt Warman
BT Group announced a modernisation programme in its 2019/20 results, which it says will enable the organisation to re-engineer old and out of date processes, switch off legacy services and make substantial cost savings over a 5-year period. Any redundancies as part of this process are a commercial decision for BT Group. However, we understand BT’s approach is to minimise redundancies through natural attrition and to provide opportunities to reskill and redeploy workers whenever possible.
More generally, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible, and is investing £5bn to deliver gigabit-capable services to the hardest to reach parts of the UK. Nationwide gigabit rollout will create thousands of high-quality jobs in the UK and help the country build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chancellor also announced the ‘Plan for Jobs’ during his Summer Economic Update, through which the Government is making available up to £30 billion to create, protect, and support jobs, and to spur the UK’s recovery following COVID-19.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with BT Group on preventing compulsory redundancies at BT Technology; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Warman
My department regularly engages with BT about a range of topics, including their UK workforce, at both official and ministerial level.
The Government is committed to boosting job creation in the UK. On 8 July, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government’s Plan for Jobs which makes up to £30 billion available, with a clear goal to create, protect, and support jobs.