Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Rolls-Royce Redundancies

The following is an extract from the urgent question on Rolls-Royce Redundancies on 14 June 2018.

Margaret Beckett (Derby South) (Lab)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to make a statement on the announcement by Rolls-Royce of 4,600 redundancies over the next two years.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark)
Rolls-Royce is one of our most important companies. It is a world leader in new technology, and plays a vital role in our industrial strategy. I spoke to Warren East, the chief executive, yesterday evening. Mr East explained that the company’s view is that the job losses are a necessary part of a drive to make the business more efficient and therefore more competitive. The jobs are principally in management and corporate support facilities rather than engineering and operational roles. Rolls-Royce has informed me that the announcement does not reflect a reduction in growth by the company; indeed, it reflects the reverse. It has a growing order book amounting to more than £170 billion, and Mr East told me that it would need more staff directly employed in both the manufacture of components and assembly to meet that demand.

[Official Report, 14 June 2018, Vol. 642, c. 1088.]

Letter of correction from Greg Clark.

An error has been identified in my answer to the urgent question on Rolls-Royce Redundancies.

The correct response should have been:

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark)
Rolls-Royce is one of our most important companies. It is a world leader in new technology, and plays a vital role in our industrial strategy. I spoke to Warren East, the chief executive, yesterday evening. Mr East explained that the company’s view is that the job losses are a necessary part of a drive to make the business more efficient and therefore more competitive. The jobs are principally in management and corporate support facilities rather than engineering and operational roles. Rolls-Royce has informed me that the announcement does not reflect a reduction in growth by the company; indeed, it reflects the reverse. It has a growing order book amounting to more than £78.5 billion, and Mr East told me that it would need more staff directly employed in both the manufacture of components and assembly to meet that demand.