Mark spoke following the announcement by the company that they are to reduce their global workforce by 2,600 people in the next 18 months. It is not yet known where the jobs will be lost and Rolls-Royce have said that they hope any redundancies would be voluntary, but have not ruled out compulsory redundancies being made.
Mark, who is a great supporter of manufacturing, has called upon the Government to help ensure that Rolls-Royce worked with its employees based in the UK to ensure any redundancies were on a voluntary basis.
The leading local MP was pleased to hear that the Government fully recognized the importance of the Ansty site which has received £60 million of investment and is a crucial part of ensuring that the country supports highly innovative, high-end, manufacturing.
Mark was also pleased to learn that the Government have already put provisions in place to work with the company and support those who may be affected by the job losses.
Speaking of the news, Mark said:
“There will be inevitable concern at this news amongst my constituents working in the Ansty site and I was pleased that the Government has already put in place provisions to work with Rolls-Royce and support any workers affected by job losses.”
Mark concluded:
“My great hope is that no jobs in Rugby are affected by the changes but I am fully on the side of those of my constituents working at the Ansty site and will continue to work hard to ensure they are supported if the changes affect us here locally.”
The official Hansard transcript is below:
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con): Yesterday’s announcement was viewed with concern by Rolls-Royce workers at the Ansty site in my constituency. Does the Minister agree on the importance of the company working with employees to ensure that any redundancies in the UK are made on a voluntary basis, and does he agree on the need for flexibility within the work force to ensure that this first-class British company can respond efficiently to a fast-changing world market?
Matthew Hancock: Absolutely. The site at Ansty that supports innovation in aerospace, which my hon. Friend and I have visited, has received £60 million of investment and is a crucial part of ensuring that we have the highest-value, high-end, highly innovative, high-technology manufacturing. Of course Rolls-Royce plays a part in that, and it is a very important part of their future, so we must ensure that the momentum behind that continues.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm141105/deb…