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Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Rachael Maskell (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 26 April 2017 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question

Q6

.

Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op):

Over the past six months, it has been announced that 2,000 jobs will be lost in York. Yesterday, Nestlé announced 300 job losses, 156 of them in my constituency, which is devastating for workers, their families and the community. Jobs, not products, are being exported to the EU, and as ever, York’s skilled jobs are being replaced by low-wage, insecure work. In the light of the special deal at Nissan in Sunderland, will the Prime Minister meet me, trade unions and the company to strike a special deal to save these jobs and avert the losses both now and in the future?

Answer

First, the hon. Lady is right to raise this issue of the announcement from Nestlé, which arose, as she says, only yesterday. We should be clear that Nestlé has itself been clear that this is not a decision that was affected by leaving the European Union—it says it has made it irrespective of that—but of course it is a worrying time for the workers and their families at Nestlé in both York and Newcastle. I can assure her that we are already in contact with the company to understand its plans and the next steps. My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary will speak with senior Nestlé representatives later today. The Department for Work and Pensions of course stands ready to put in place its rapid response service to support any workers made redundant by helping them back into employment as quickly as possible, and there are various ways in which Jobcentre Plus can help. What is important is

that we ensure that the support is there, and as I have said, the Business Secretary will be speaking to Nestlé representatives later today.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
624 c1106 
Session
2016-17
Oral question type
1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Redundancy York Nestlé
Link
View this Prime Minister's question on hansard.parliament.uk