This week I spoke to Rolls-Royce about their announcement that as part of their multi-year transformation programme between 2000 and 2500 jobs will be at risk of redundancy across their global operations.
Of course when I heard the reports of potential job losses, I was very concerned for the many constituents of mine who work for both Rolls-Royce Submarines Limited, Rolls-Royce SMR, and Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace at their Sinfin site.
I was pleased to learn that employees on the Raynesway site will remain out of scope for these changes, however, I stressed the importance of certainty for those employees and constituents who, at this time, do not have confidence of their long-term job security. Rolls-Royce has committed to working constructively with union representatives and stressed to me the fact that these changes will ensure they remain the high performing, competitive, and resilient company that continues to offer significant employment and supply-chain opportunities to Derby.
I intend to continue to speak to and challenge Rolls-Royce leadership about these proposed changes and I would encourage the company to provide employees with certainty at the very earliest opportunity. It is also imperative that the company outlines exactly why redundancies are proportionate when more details are released.
I have requested further meetings in Derby with Rolls-Royce and expects to meet representatives from the organisation again next week with colleagues in Westminster.
