(Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP) [V]: I
am sure the Minister agrees that there is a great deal of public
affection for the Arcadia brands and in particular for Debenhams.
While we must hope that redundancies can be avoided wherever
possible, this is a sad day for our embattled high streets. All our
thoughts are with the thousands of workers, including those in my
constituency, many of whom have given years, or even decades, of
service in retail, who will be devastated by this news. They must
be given all the help they can get to ensure that all their pension
rights are retained. Will the Minister ensure that Sir Philip
Green’s obligations to pensions are met, and will his Department
work with trade unions to make sure that the workers are treated
fairly and adequately supported through the process?
Like others, many of the workers will face difficulty in putting
food on the table and finding a new job or retraining in a
crowded market. They will need the safety net of universal credit
to make ends meet. I urge the Minister to use his best efforts
and to work with colleagues to retain the £20 a week uplift and
to scrap the planned benefit cap that will cost an average of
£250 a month. Universal credit is already not enough; taking away
the uplift is taking food from people’s tables.
We need to remember that many small businesses in local supply
chains will be affected by the news. Some of them will not
survive without support, while the owners of others will be
joining the 3 million people who have been excluded from support.
The Government cannot continue to ignore them. I urge the
Minister again to finally get support to this group, who are
becoming increasingly desperate.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy (): The
existing commitments made to the Pensions Regulator do indeed
need to be kept—it is important to say that.
The hon. Gentleman talks about support for employees. If people
need financial support quickly, they may be able to claim
universal credit and/or employment and support allowance. Our
plan for jobs includes a series of measures to protect, support
and create jobs, because it is important to get the people
affected back into work as soon as possible. We have our £238
million job entry targeted support programme to
support that...
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