Employment
(Redundancies)
(North East Fife) (LD): We
are facing a tidal wave of job losses; one in 10 workers could be
out of a job this year. At Rolls-Royce in
Renfrew, 700 jobs are under threat, 200 are under threat at the
Crieff Hydro group, 80 at Fishers Services in Perth, 70 at Don
& Low Ltd in Angus, 96 at Mainetti in the Borders and 1,000
at OVO Energy, including jobs in Perth, Selkirk and Glasgow. That
tidal wave might last for three years. Is the Government ready?
What is it planning to do about that jobs emergency?
The First Minister (): The economic
emergency that we face is colossal, just like the health
emergency that we have been dealing with. All along, we have been
clear that the health emergency quickly led to an economic one.
We have been planning for that almost from the start. Throughout
the crisis, on a weekly basis, I have been chairing a
sub-committee of the cabinet that is looking specifically at the
economic issues. Benny Higgins has been chairing the economic
recovery group; the group’s report is due to be published within
the next couple of weeks and it will have important
recommendations for us. Earlier this week, I spoke to Benny
Higgins and the chief executive of Rolls-Royce;
tomorrow, I will speak to the Scottish Tourism Alliance. If we
take our eye off the health emergency, that will make the
economic emergency worse. We are increasingly focusing on the
steps that we need to take and the interventions that we will
need to make to support the economy, businesses and jobs. Those
steps and interventions will take a multitude of forms.
The two emergencies come closely together in the need to keep
suppressing the virus sufficiently for us to be able to lift more
of the lockdown measures and allow more of our businesses to
operate and make money again. Those challenges are interlinked
but Government and I are focused on both.
Job Losses (West
Lothian)
(Almond Valley) (SNP):
Wyman Gordon is a significant employer in my constituency and is
part of the Rolls-Royce supply chain. Yesterday,
the company announced plans to shed a third of its workforce. I
am concerned that this is merely the tip of the iceberg, given
that a recent Social Market Foundation report said that the West
Lothian economy could be disproportionately impacted by both
coronavirus and Brexit. What can the Scottish Government do to
protect and save jobs in my constituency? What efforts have been
made to persuade the United Kingdom Government of the need for
bespoke and additional packages of support for particular
industries?
The First Minister (): We will continue to
work hard to identify the best ways in which we can support the
economy in general and businesses in particular sectors. That
will be an on-going challenge, but it is one that we take very
seriously. The implications of this virus will affect the economy
for some time, and we must continue to have support in place. We
will also continue to encourage the UK Government not to
prematurely withdraw any of the support that is in place, whether
that is the job retention scheme or the other very welcome forms
of support that it has made available.
We will continue, as I hope all members will, to seek to persuade
the UK Government to extend the Brexit transition period and not
to countenance in any way a no-deal Brexit.
refers to Wyman Gordon
being part of the Rolls-Royce supply chain. As I
said to , I spoke to the chief
executive of Rolls-Royce earlier this week.
There is no doubt that it, like many companies, is facing very
challenging market conditions because of the coronavirus
pandemic. We will do all that we can to protect jobs and to
protect a presence for Rolls-Royce at Inchinnan
. One of the issues that featured in that conversation was the
impact on the whole supply chain of any decisions that
Rolls-Royce makes. It is important to understand
it in that context.
