Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to (a) encourage and (b) support (i) Rolls-Royce and (ii) other similar manufacturing industries to help (A) retain their workforce and (B) prevent mass redundancies in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government regularly speaks with automotive companies and has worked closely with Rolls Royce in response to COVID-19.

Rolls Royce is making use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and has drawn £300m of short-term finance from the Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has so far protected 8.9 million workers and 1.1 million businesses through this crisis (as at midnight 7th June 2020).

All UK employers can apply for a grant that covers 80% of furloughed employees’ usual monthly wage costs, up to £2500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions.

This scheme is available to support 28.5m employees paid via PAYE across the UK.

This is a temporary scheme in place for 8 months starting from 1 March and ending at the end of October.

In addition, we are supporting businesses, by offering Government-backed finance through the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loans, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, and the Bounce Back Loans scheme, depending on the size of the company.

Where firms make the decision that they cannot retain all of their staff over the longer run, we are ensuring that those looking for work are supported through a significant package of temporary welfare measures.

This includes: £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants.