Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of the Thomas Cook employees who have been made redundant in each region of the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 737, how many of the (a) 7,186 and (b) 462 former Thomas Cook employees who specifically stated in their claim that Peterborough was their place of work have received redundancy payments to date.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Three thousand of the 9,000 staff employed by Thomas Cook were retained after the commencement of the liquidation to assist repatriation work and the liquidation process. This included many at the HQ in Peterborough responsible for areas such as payroll.
As a result, a number of the Peterborough claims are from employees made redundant in the last week following the end of the repatriation exercise and are therefore currently still being assessed and processed for payment. Administering redundancy payments is an ongoing process as claims are verified and further payroll information is received. The Redundancy Payments Service will process outstanding payments as quickly as possible.
As of 29 October 2019, of the 7,627 former Thomas Cook employees who have submitted claims to the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service, 7,483 have received one or more payment. Of the 587 former Thomas Cook employees who specifically state in their claim that Peterborough was their place of work, 555 have received one or more payment.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 1123, what financial support is available for businesses in a position to take on former employees of Thomas Cook.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has convened a special cross-government taskforce alongside local stakeholders to support employees, local stakeholders and supply chains. The taskforce is considering support schemes available and will also monitor local business impacts.
Additionally, the Rapid Response Service is helping people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support, which may include:
Local partners are able to advise on support available locally to former employees and businesses wishing to recruit them.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 374, how much funding from the public purse Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority received from the package of support following the collapse of Thomas Cook; and what funding the Government is providing to support (a) former employees with re-employment and (b) businesses to take on redundant employees of that company.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will look to ensure existing mechanisms to offer support and associated governance are working effectively.
Additionally, the Rapid Response Service is helping people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support, which includes:
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a business growth zone for Peterborough following the collapse of Thomas Cook.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Government is supporting businesses in Peterborough by continuing to invest in the Signpost 2 Grow Growth Hub run by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
The Growth Hub is available to help support business growth through signposting and referring to existing business support provision and to identify gaps in provision and source suitable alternatives whether free, subsidised or commercially available.
Signpost 2 Grow is a part of the network of 38 Growth Hubs that are local public/private sector partnerships led by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). They join up national and local business support, so it is easy for businesses to find the help they need.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate has been made of the number of Thomas Cook employees who were based at the company's headquarters in Peterborough.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Official Receiver’s Special Managers advise that 1,143 staff were based at the Thomas Cook headquarters in Peterborough.
The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will look to ensure existing mechanisms to offer support and associated governance are working effectively.
Additionally, the Rapid Response Service is helping people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support, which may include:
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 740, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making additional funding available to the National Taskforce for Thomas Cook.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will look to ensure existing mechanisms to offer support and associated governance are working effectively.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 1123, what additional public funding has been made available to support businesses in the Thomas Cook supply chain; and by what mechanism will that funding be allocated.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local partners are able to advise on support available locally to businesses in the Thomas Cook supply chain.
The Business Secretary has convened a special cross-government taskforce alongside local stakeholders to support employees, local stakeholders and supply chains. The taskforce is considering existing support schemes available and will also monitor local business impacts.
Additionally, the Rapid Response Service is helping people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support, which may include:
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 373, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to the SSI Taskforce to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Recognising the unique requirements of certifying existing skills and retraining in the steel and heavy manufacturing sector, and the economic vulnerability of the area around the Redcar steelworks, around £53 million has been provided to support schemes identified by the SSI Task Force to support impacted workers.
Asked by: Lisa Forbes (Labour - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of Hays Travel on re-employment of former staff of Thomas Cook's headquarters.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Special Managers acting for the Official Receiver were in discussion with Hays Travel about the completed sale of all former Thomas Cook retail outlets.
It is a matter for Hays Travel to decide how many former Thomas Cook staff they will employ and where.
The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will continue to work with Special Managers to ensure the best possible outcome for former Thomas Cook employees.