The Chairman of the Council, the Chairs of Committees and Sub-Committees and Portfolio Holders to answer any questions on any matters in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affect the District of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 12.
Minutes:
35.1 The following questions were received in accordance with Council Procedure 12:-
Councillor Bavington to the Leader of the Council
My questions are all to do with the continued productive existence of high precision engineering manufacture on the Sudbury site, making use of the outstanding levels of skill and professionalism of the existing workforce, when the production transfer of Delphi Technologies to Romania is completed in summer 2020; and the support that Babergh District Council can and will give to ensure that there is a successful and smooth transition of the site to a new employer who will be able to employ those outstanding skills to continue high precision engineering in the Sudbury area.
1. Are you aware that:
· the Delphi Sudbury site gives employment not just to people who live in Sudbury itself but to those who live in surrounding villages, for example Great Cornard?
· Delphi supports other small engineering companies in the local area and beyond?
· Delphi wage levels are the benchmark for the whole Sudbury sub-district area?
2. Do you accept that the loss of high precision engineering to the local economy will undermine the ambitions laid out in the recently published ‘Sudbury Vision for Prosperity’ document?
3. Has Babergh District Council commissioned an Economic Impact Assessment of the devastating effects full Delphi site closure would have on the local economy?
4. What active steps is Babergh taking to encourage a new employer with a good business fit in high-precision automotive or aerospace related industries to take over the site and take the development of this uniquely talented workforce to the next level?
5. What financial incentives, for example business rate relief and business development grants, are the Council offering to suitable potential employers to take on this site without any time gap once Delphi leave in 2020?
6. What co-ordination is there between Babergh District Council and the South Suffolk Taskforce set up by James Cartlidge M.P.? Is Babergh contributing to the ‘Options Appraisal’ apparently being undertaken and will he ensure that any report is published in a reasonable timescale?
7. As far as I am aware, there has been no discussion of this issue at either Council or Cabinet. What steps will you take to ensure that the Council is kept informed of the steps you are taking to preserve this unique high-precision machine tool design manufacturing capability in the most highly populated corner of our district?
Response from the Leader, Councillor John Ward
In terms of the employment in Sudbury and surrounding villages. Yes, obviously I and also my colleagues are aware of the impact on employment in all of the villages and communities around Sudbury, we know that the Delphi site is a major employer and as members and representatives for those communities, we are acutely aware of the impact. That is why we are working hard to come to a resolution and a way forward for this. In terms of the other small engineering companies, again yes I and other members are aware of the supply chain for Delphi and the support that is provided at Delphi by other engineering companies and will make sure whatever solutions that comes up for the site, will mitigate the impact on those companies. The Delphi wage levels, yes this is certainly the benchmark for salaries in those precision engineering skills in the town. Not necessarily sure that they are the benchmark for the whole of the Sudbury district, but definitely for the type of skills that the Delphi employees have. Consequently, we are looking for a suitable employer, and will make sure that the type of jobs, the type of employment will match those salary levels. Secondly, your question relating to the loss of the high precision engineer possibly undermining the public Sudbury vision for prosperity - the Sudbury vision for prosperity is a Babergh document for the whole of the town, it is not there to address individual companies or indeed employment sectors, it is there to look at development and what Sudbury needs as a town and consequently I don’t believe that the two are that closely linked. In terms of your next few questions, just to reassure everyone, we are acutely aware of the importance of Delphi to the broader South Suffolk area, as it has been a vital part of the community and not just in an economy context for so many years. Many people in Sudbury and neighbouring settlements have worked or know people who have worked at Delphi and the company has a long-standing reputation for looking after their people. Their employees are highly skilled, well trained, and most should and are, being able to acquire new jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector or through use of their transferable skills. Since we became aware of the position at Delphi, we have helped form and been an active part, of the South Suffolk Task Force which includes the local MP, new Anglia LEP and the Sudbury Town Council working with the Delphi management to explore possible configurations and understand what could practically be achieved at the site. Further inward investment, marketing of the site, attempting to retain existing industrial use is going on via British Embassy’s and other channels. Babergh has contributed to that work with the new Anglia LEP and the regional representative from the department for international trade, including a later site visit meeting with the plant manager that took place on the 4th July2018. Babergh is making a financial contribution and also providing linked officer support and resource for the options appraisal work. The Council is now scoping out and commissioning that work and have already started the procurement element of that. Outcomes from that work, including viability assessments for each identified option will be shared in due course. Whilst we attempt to commission this work, we also need to be mindful of the Delphi management teams wishes and their separate and sensitive negotiations and processes that are underway which extend to unions and staffing support arrangements. Delphi have been very good and have provided generous redundancy terms. As of May, 180 employees have taken voluntary redundancy with 79 going into other employment locally and 29 taking early retirement. There has already been some local interest in both the site and workforce, the management of Delphi and Unite both have a concern and desire that the unique skills workforce is not dissipated and that a new occupier can be found as soon as practicable. Colliers one of the premier global real estate services companies has been appointed to market the site. On a further note, Babergh is also due on 1st September 2018 to take over as landlord, from the current shared responsibility with Suffolk County Council for the 24 business units comprising South Suffolk business centre near to the Delphi site in Alexandra Road Sudbury. That is currently operating at 100% occupation and we see this Babergh commitment as an important and tangible contribution to supporting the business community in the Sudbury and broader South Suffolk area. In terms of your questions 5 – financial incentives business rates relief. We haven’t considered that at the moment because we have no news yet as to potential employers, obviously we would need to revisit that as soon as we have further information about that. But what I will say is that we are confident that we will find a positive outcome, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy is making the most of its contacts, Babergh as I said are working in partnership with the LEP and James Cartlidge MP and we do expect that we will have a positive and good news story to come for this site. The task force did actually meet most recently in May and it met both the unions and Delphi management and we all agreed that the number one priority is to retain this as an industrial site. The task force remit is of course broader and not really focused entirely on Delphi, nor indeed does it have political purposes. Its remit is to address the broader business challenges in the Sudbury area and we are inviting businesses across Sudbury to see what can be done to make the town more competitive. So that, oh the last question in terms of Cabinet reporting or Council reporting. As I stated earlier the task force will be reporting back but I will ensure that the reports are formally made to Cabinet and to Council.
Supplementary Question
How much effort are you putting in to achieving an outcome where another very high precision engineering manufacturing company comes into the site?
Response from the Leader, Councillor Ward
The task force is acutely aware of the uniqueness of the skills at Delphi. You won’t find them anywhere else in this country, we know that. Our options appraisal work will be evaluating all of the possible options, whether it is a single high precision engineering company or to re-use the site for a number of small businesses. We have to look at all those options, we can’t guarantee at this stage what will be the eventual outcome. But I can assure you that the number one priority of the task force is to find a similar high skilled engineering company to come into that site. But at the moment I can’t promise anything. The work has been undertaken, the site is being marketed as such through the Embassy’s and High Commissions around the world and I know that is James Cartlidge’s number one priority to get that kind of employer into the site. That is certainly the priority of all of the other partners of the task force, it is our top priority but at this stage I can’t guarantee anything.
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