Business of the House

Neil Duncan-Jordan Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

For the final question, I call Neil Duncan-Jordan.

[Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Lab)]

Sunseeker International is a luxury boat-building company in my constituency, and it employs around 2,000 people in the local area. Just before Christmas, it issued temporary lay-off notices to more than 100 workers, with the promise that they would come back to work on 27 January. As that date approaches, those workers now fear the worst. Throughout this difficult time, the company has failed to tell its staff what is happening. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that our Employment Rights Bill will ensure that employers must consult and inform their workers when they face such challenges, and will she agree to a debate in Government time on the role and importance of shipbuilding in the UK economy?

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: the Government have introduced, through the Employment Rights Bill, a huge boost to workers’ rights in such situations. The Bill will shortly come back to the Chamber on Report, when we can discuss at great length the action that we want to take against fire and rehire and to support workers in the difficult circumstances that he describes.