Asked by: Margaret Beckett (Labour - Derby South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the management and unions of Rolls-Royce on (a) the effect on the supply chain and (b) other effects of a shutdown in production; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has regular engagement with Rolls-Royce on a wide range of issues, including to understand the impact of COVID-19 on its business, employees and UK supply chain and how best to help them through the crisis and into recovery.
Temporarily closing facilities is a commercial decision for Rolls-Royce and I understand the company is currently consulting with Union and Employee representatives around these proposals.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department is providing to (a) Rolls-Royce, (b) Bombardier and (c) other such companies located in the East Midlands; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The advanced manufacturing sector is benefiting from the Government’s £330 billion Covid-19 business support package, including those businesses based in the East Midlands.
This support includes the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which has seen 60,409 loans approved worth £13.68 billion; the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which has seen 516 approved loans totalling £3.5 billion; and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has helped 1.2 million employers across the UK to furlough 9.6 million jobs.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2020 to Question 56024 on Manufacturing Industries: Coronavirus, what discussions his Department had with Rolls-Royce and on what dates those discussions took place.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2020 to Question 56024 on Manufacturing Industries: Coronavirus, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Government task-force in relation to UK-based Rolls-Royce jobs.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government regularly speaks with manufacturing companies and has worked closely with Rolls Royce in response to COVID-19. Rolls Royce is making use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which has so far protected 9.2 million workers and 1.1 million businesses through this crisis (as at midnight 21 June 2020). Rolls has also drawn £300m of short-term finance from the Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).
Where firms make the decision that they cannot retain all of their staff over the longer run, we are ensuring that those looking for work are supported through a significant package of temporary welfare measures. This includes: £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions the Government had with representatives of Rolls Royce on job retention in the last three months; and whether any future meetings are scheduled.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government holds many meetings with companies, including Rolls-Royce, to discuss a wide range of business issues.
Details of meetings held by Ministers in the Department are recorded in our transparency data, which is published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to (a) encourage and (b) support (i) Rolls-Royce and (ii) other similar manufacturing industries to help (A) retain their workforce and (B) prevent mass redundancies in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government regularly speaks with automotive companies and has worked closely with Rolls Royce in response to COVID-19.
Rolls Royce is making use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and has drawn £300m of short-term finance from the Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has so far protected 8.9 million workers and 1.1 million businesses through this crisis (as at midnight 7th June 2020).
All UK employers can apply for a grant that covers 80% of furloughed employees’ usual monthly wage costs, up to £2500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions.
This scheme is available to support 28.5m employees paid via PAYE across the UK.
This is a temporary scheme in place for 8 months starting from 1 March and ending at the end of October.
In addition, we are supporting businesses, by offering Government-backed finance through the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loans, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, and the Bounce Back Loans scheme, depending on the size of the company.
Where firms make the decision that they cannot retain all of their staff over the longer run, we are ensuring that those looking for work are supported through a significant package of temporary welfare measures.
This includes: £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of covid-19 on employment within the UK aviation sector and associated supply chain.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Before the impact of COVID-19, the UK aviation sector directly employed around 230,000 jobs (130,000 in air transport and 100,000 in aerospace). Following the sharp contraction in aviation demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, employment in the UK aviation sector has been significantly impacted.
Workers in the aviation sector are being supported by the unprecedented economic measures we have put in place, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. At least 50,000 airline and aerospace employees have been furloughed using the scheme. However, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, Rolls Royce and John Menzies are among UK aviation companies that have announced plans for tens of thousands of redundancies.
Government is continuing to monitor the impact on employment within the UK aviation sector, and as we now begin to re-open the economy, it is right that state support is slowly reduced and the focus shifts to getting furloughed employees back to work.