§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the redundancies declared by the Norwich Union Aviva Group. [142504]
§ Mr. SutcliffeAlthough the Government very much share the concerns of those immediately affected by plans to offshore services work, the question of redundancies is a commercial matter for the Norwich Union Aviva Group. Earlier this month, Aviva said that it hopes that the bulk of job cuts will come through natural staff turnover or voluntary redundancies. However, we do nevertheless need to understand better what is happening, and to this end we have launched a consultation document and will hold a round-table seminar in the New Year, to help inform the debate on the impacts of offshoring.