§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions the Government have taken in relation to the decision by BMW to sell part of the Rover Group; and if he will make a statement. [116868]
§ Mr. ByersBMW's recent decision to divest itself of elements of the Rover Group was a commercial one. The Government are determined to help the people, communities and businesses respond to BMW's decision.
On Thursday 23 March I met the Chairman of BMW AG, Professor Milberg, and his senior management, impressing upon them the need for BMW's continuing involvement. After a useful and constructive discussion, BMW has agreed to look at ways to try to maximise job retention and at how the company might work with the recently established Task Force to promote the regeneration of Longbridge and the other sites affected.
During my visit to the region on 17 March I announced the establishment of a Task Force, headed by Alex Stephenson, Chairman of Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency. The Task Force membership includes people from key organisations concerned with regenerating the economy of the affected parts of the West Midlands. I asked it to report to me within six weeks.
The Task Force will:
- Assess the impact of any reduction in activity at Longbridge on the people, businesses and communities of the region;
- Advise on the public and private resources needed to help deal with the consequences, and
- Draw up proposals for action by local partners and by central government.
I announced that £129 million of government funding would be available to support projects in the region aimed at dealing with the consequences of BMW's decision.
The Employment Service is setting up a Rapid Response Unit at Longbridge to help deal with any redundancies. This will involve establishing a job shop to give advance notice about job vacancies, careers advice and benefits, a fast-track claims process for employees who were made redundant, and access through the local TEC to training to meet the needs of the employees.
The Task Force has also made contact with the 98 leading suppliers to Rover and expects to have an analysis of their situation later this week. In addition it is contacting the remaining suppliers, including second and third tier suppliers. A hotline for handling queries from suppliers and from individual employees affected is also being established.
The Task Force has also held preliminary discussions with BMW about the future of the Longbridge site and will be holding further discussions with BMW, Alchemy and Ford about future intentions so far as employment is concerned, about the site and development issues.
110WThe Government have also raised with BMW a range of other issues including their plans in relation to other sites and plants and the concerns of the network of dealers.