On Thursday
morning, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(BEIS) Committee is holding the
latest session for their inquiry on the impact of coronavirus on
businesses and workers, looking
at issues facing the workforce, including the self-employed,
across a range of sectors, such as retail, engineering and
manufacturing, energy, and the creative industries. The Committee
will be hearing from representatives of GMB Scotland and Unite,
Equity, Usdaw, and Prospect unions.
, Chair of the BEIS Committee,
has also written to Alok
Sharma [letter
available via link], Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, to raise a series of concerns regarding
support for the manufacturing sector.
The session on
Thursday morning is likely explore issues around the support
available to industries and workers, including the Government’s
job retention scheme, to examine concerns around workplace
safety.
The hearing will
also examine questions around the measures Government might take
to safeguard jobs, issues around the medium-and-long term support
necessary to support sectors across the UK economy, and explore
the prospect of further government intervention in strategically
important industries (the HM Treasury’s ‘Project Birch’). The
session is also likely to examine issues around skills and
retraining.
Evidence session: The impact of coronavirus on business and
workers
Thursday 18th June,
10.30am
This session will be held virtually and will be
available to watch on Parliament
TV
Witnesses:
-
Gary Smith,
Secretary, GMB Scotland;
-
Steve Turner,
Assistant General
Secretary, Unite;
-
Christine
Payne, General Secretary, Equity;
-
Mike Clancy,
General
Secretary, Prospect;
-
Tony Dale, Head
of Research, Usdaw
Impact of coronavirus on businesses and workers – terms of
reference
The BEIS Committee’s inquiry initially focussed on the
immediate impact and support offered to workers and businesses
during the coronavirus crisis. Over the coming months, the
inquiry will continue to keep a close eye on Government policy
and its impact on businesses and workers, including the following
key areas:
-
How different sectors and those in different forms of
employment are affected by coronavirus;
-
The impact of support schemes and policies announced by
the Government, including the Business Interruption Loan
Scheme, Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Job Retention
Scheme;
-
The likely needs of different sectors over the coming
weeks and months, and at each alert level of the
pandemic.
The Committee has held sessions for this inquiry
on 4th June, focusing
on the impact on the manufacturing and energy
(specifically, electricity and gas supply)
sectors, Thursday 14
May with Which?, TUC, and IoD, and a panel
of international experts, and also with business
representatives (on 17
March) and on the impact on small businesses and the
retail sector (30
April). The Committee took evidence from
the Secretary of
State on 23
April on the Department's response to
coronavirus.
On 18th May, Chair of the Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Committee wrote to
Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy [letter available via link] to
press the Government to respond to a series of concerns around
safety in shops and workplaces and to outline the powers it
intends to introduce to stop profiteering during the COVID-19
pandemic.
