Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had recent discussions with D&D London on its announcement of closures and redundancies at its TGI Fridays stores.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We understand that this will be a concerning time for workers at TGI Fridays, and we stand ready to support those impacted. Affected employees will be able to access Government support, including Universal Credit and Job Centre Plus to help them find new jobs, through its Rapid Response Service. DBT officials are monitoring developments and are in touch with administrators.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the selection criteria for membership to the Hospitality Sector Council is.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Hospitality Sector Council’s Terms of Reference is publicly available, outlining that membership is by invitation only and is subject to final agreement by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Ministers in consultation with the joint chairs. Members are selected to provide a breadth of knowledge and experience across the hospitality sector and Government. All members are selected in a personal capacity and will be expected to speak for their areas of expertise rather than the specific interests of their organisation.
Membership is reviewed by DBT and it may be amended to take account of changing priorities in the sector to ensure appropriate representation and expertise is maintained.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support flexible working by women.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Through the recently introduced Employment Rights Bill, we are amending existing legislation to ensure employers accept flexible working requests, except where they are not reasonably feasible. These changes will support employees to access flexible working, including women. We know flexible working is particularly important supporting women who combine work with caring responsibilities.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing the same rights to leave for kinship carers as are are in place for adoption leave.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government greatly values kinship carers who come forward to care for children who cannot live with their parents. The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working families. We will set out more information in due course.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to find an alternative producer of batteries for electric vehicles for the vacant Cambois site since the collapse of Britishvolt and Recharge Industries.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The administration is a matter solely for the administrators. The Government has no formal role in the process.
There are a number of factors that investors take into account when deciding on the location of a gigafactory, but ultimately this remains a commercial matter.
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK’s competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the establishment of gigafactories to support future levels of vehicle manufacturing.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK's competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.
In the last year we have seen high levels of committed investment by our vehicle and EV battery producers, including JLR, Nissan and BMW Mini.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information her Department holds on the projected pay bands of the jobs created at the proposed Data Centre in Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created by the data centre at Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what infrastructure upgrades are required for the proposed Data Centre in Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the remaining industrial land at the Cambois site for a gigafactory.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
There are a number of factors that investors take into account when deciding on the location of a gigafactory, but ultimately this remains a commercial matter.
It would not be appropriate to comment further as we do not comment on private commercial matters or speculation.