Councillor calls for Government to stop Barnoldswick Rolls-Royce jobs going abroad

A Barnoldswick councillor is calling for the Government to ban the export of critical advanced manufacturing jobs to Singapore in a bid to save the town's embattled Rolls-Royce plant.
Coun. Tom WhippCoun. Tom Whipp
Coun. Tom Whipp

Coun. Tom Whipp, who also chairs Barnoldswick Town Council, is proposing a resolution on the issue at the full Pendle Council meeting tomorrow.

Leader Times reported last week that a petition has been launched calling to stop the transfer of the Barnoldswick fan blade work to Singapore, and associated proposed job losses, citing a potential £1 billion hit to the regional economy.

The resolution states that:

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Council notes with dismay the announcement by Rolls-Royce that the manufacture of the 'Crown Jewels' of the company, wide-chord fan blades, is to be offshored to Singapore, with the loss of hundreds of skilled jobs and the knock-on consequences for the supply chain throughout Pendle and beyond.

Council also notes the announcements of thousands of other job losses across Pendle in recent weeks and the consequent grave impact on the local economy across all business sectors.

Council therefore resolves that:

1) HM Government is requested to urgently enact legislation prohibiting the offshoring of critically important strategic manufacturing processes such as wide-chord fan blade manufacture (known as the Crown Jewels of British manufacturing);

2) Government urgently provides support for people becoming redundant with a view to retraining people losing their jobs, providing opportunities for young people to gain employment and creating economic conditions leading to new job creation, and;

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3) The Chief Executive writes to the MP for Pendle, other Lancashire MPs and other local authorities in the region seeking their support for the above measures.

To be moved by Coun. Tom Whipp and seconded by Coun. David Clegg.