Car Production: Solihull

Debate between Lord Harrington of Watford and Matt Western

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington]

And indeed myself, although not at taxpayers’ expense. In addition, it is not a “supertoy”; it is a more modest model.

Tonight’s subject is very important and I wish to thank other Members who have contributed. Jaguar Land Rover has an excellent group of MPs in the area, and I was pleased to meet them last week to discuss the announcement that was made. [Interruption.] I see the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) shaking his head. I do hope I have not affronted him if I have not met him—most Members were there. If I have, I really apologise and I will make sure he is always invited.

[Matt Western]

I do not believe I was invited, but I very much hope that I will be invited in future.

[Richard Harrington]

If the hon. Gentleman was not invited, I would like to apologise to him. This was all done at the last minute. I will meet him whenever he likes, either informally or in a meeting with officials. The point I was making is that JLR is a cross-party matter, and it is treated in that way by the Government and by the company.

In the time we have, I wish briefly to outline the steps the Government have taken since JLR announced last Thursday that it will reduce its global workforce by about 4,500 people. I will then move on to address the arguments put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull. As he highlighted, the UK automotive industry remains one of our great success stories, and global demand for UK designed, engineered and manufactured vehicles is strong. Our industry is regarded internationally as very productive. Our industrial strategy builds on these strengths and invests in the future, to put the UK at the forefront of the next generation of electric and autonomous vehicles. JLR is a key part of our automotive manufacturing base, supporting high-quality jobs, both directly and across the automotive supply chain.

As my hon. Friend noted, last Thursday, Jaguar Land Rover confirmed that it is offering voluntary redundancy packages to its UK workforce, to reduce the headcount. As this is a voluntary redundancy programme, the company cannot give any figures on the number of Solihull workers who might be affected. However, JLR has made it clear to us, in a call that the Secretary of State and I had with its chief executive just before the announcement, that those working on production lines are not part of this programme; this predominantly relates to marketing and management staff. I do not make light of that; these people will be made redundant—we hope it will be with their agreement—and what job they do does not particularly matter. He also stressed to us that the apprenticeship programme, which has been supported so well by my hon. Friend and other local MPs, will continue, as will graduate recruitment and the recruitment of specific staff that the company needs.

The decision to offer these redundancies is the next phase of a £2.5 billion “Charge and Accelerate” turnaround plan, which the company announced last September. As I say, I have spoken several times to the chief executive and he has explained how these redundancies will streamline the business and help to ensure the company’s long-term health for the future. As I say, I do think a lot of every member of staff and their families, who face an uncertain time. I assure the House that we are working closely with colleagues throughout the west midlands to offer whatever support we can.

We are also working to support the company itself. We have a long-standing relationship with the firm and its parent company in India. Since the turnaround plans were announced last September, we have worked even more closely with the company in support of its long-term strategy as it invests and transitions to autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.

--- Later in debate ---

[Richard Harrington]

I do not have it within my power to shout from the rooftops, but I will shout from this Chamber for those people who are listening. The new clean diesels are really, really good. I confess to having a penchant for this particular kind of vehicle.

[Matt Western]

I thank the Minister for being so generous with his time. Let me return to this important point. He is speaking about shouting from the rooftops. Perhaps the most critical point to shout about is taxation. I appreciate the points that have just been made by the hon. Member for Solihull (Julian Knight). There is a global issue, as we have seen in north America and across Europe, on diesel, but it is in the Government’s gift to change taxation and not to penalise. The maximum vehicle excise duty addition that was put in was £560 on a vehicle.

[Richard Harrington]

I am bursting to respond to the hon. Gentleman’s point, but I have two minutes left, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I do not want to torment your time—well, you will not let me; you would tell me not to.

My hon. Friend made the same point. I am pleased to remind the House that, on 19 December, the Treasury published a review of the impact of the worldwide harmonised light vehicles test procedure on vehicle excise duty and company car tax. The review is open until 17 September[Official Report, 21 January 2019, Vol. 653, c. 2MC.]. Officials from the Department have been working closely with Jaguar Land Rover and others to ensure that the industry’s evidence is considered in the review and I look forward to the outcome.

I congratulate my hon. Friend. He really is a major spokesman for the company, together with his colleagues,. This debate is but a small part of the work that he does. My door is always open to him and to the company. I look forward to a great future for Jaguar Land Rover, and I know that the west midlands will be a key part of that.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Harrington of Watford and Matt Western

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, each deal with each city is an individual one based on the circumstances of that city. I see him regularly, and it would be a pleasure to meet him to discuss his constituency and the proposed city deal.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

18. [R] In terms of leaving the EU and our manufacturing sector, does the Minister not accept that staying in the customs union and in a form of single market is absolutely what is demanded in the long term—not “xx”—by our manufacturing sector?

[Richard Harrington]

The hon. Gentleman must be aware that the EEF has warmly accepted the Government’s proposals for a future trading relationship that will provide the kind of frictionless trade essential for his constituents and everyone else who works in the motor vehicle industry and the manufacturing sector.

Smart Meters Bill (Sixth sitting)

Debate between Lord Harrington of Watford and Matt Western

Committee Debate: 6th sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 28th November 2017 Public Bill Committees

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

Clearly, the scheme is an incredibly ambitious one; the scale of it as a consumer programme is virtually unprecedented. That is why the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak, and others have said that we have to ensure that what we do is in the public eye, the public interest and the consumer interest.

The intention behind the reporting is clearly a good one, not just for us in terms of monitoring but also for raising the visibility and the importance of the programme. A public relations exercise almost needs to be done because there seems to be so much confusion out there, particularly among consumers. The points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak in terms of those metrics are critical, but it is also critical that we begin to understand the sort of behavioural change among consumers, in terms of that cost-benefit analysis for the whole programme and for individual households.

I do not want to spin the wheels and repeat what has been said. The only thing that I would urge is a little more ambition in the reporting. The annual report is not bad—it is a good idea—but like most businesses, which give quarterly updates, given those really important metrics and given that the ambition was set for 2020, arguably there are not many annual reports left between now and then. Perhaps a quarterly summary report would be valuable to see the progress that has been made and, critically, how the scheme has been adopted or accepted and how it is working with the consumer.

[Richard Harrington]

I thank hon. Members for their contributions, particularly the shadow Minister—or should I now call him my protection officer? I have never had one of those before and thought that I was not likely to, but I am very pleased that he has taken it upon himself to appoint himself to that position, which I warmly endorse, I thank him for that.

The new clauses give me the chance to set out the Government’s commitments for reporting on the smart meter roll-out, which is very important and something that I have given a lot of thought to. Before I do, I want to mention a couple of points that the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran made, because they are quite different. She said that consumers were being misled by their energy companies and bullied into getting a smart meter—which is really what she was saying. I reiterate that it is not compulsory for anyone to have a smart meter installed. Consumers have a right to decline them.