§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assistance his Department has given to efforts to minimise the effects of the redundancies at the Northern Telecom proximity 1 plant in Paignton, South Devon. [55702]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Department has granted Nortel Large Scale Redundancy Status. This means employees made redundant by the company will benefit from immediate assistance by the newly established Rapid Response team for South Devon, that will include instant access to Employment Service job search programmes and training offered by PROSPER (formerly the Devon and Cornwall Training and Enterprise Council and Business Link).
The Government Office for the South West, Employment Service, PROSPER, Devon and Cornwall Development International and Torbay Council have also combined to form a local task force which is working closely with the company, to consider what further collective action needs to be taken to help the company, its employees and the local community deal with the impact of the closure.