Hitachi Rail layoff talks 'could start in June'

The shadow chancellor visited the Newton Aycliffe factory on Wednesday

Hitachi Rail could begin the process of laying off staff at its County Durham train factory as early as June, according to Labour’s shadow chancellor.

Rachel Reeves said the Japanese manufacturing giant could start redundancy consultations if the government fails to protect the site.

Hitachi said it was committed to finding a viable future for its Newton Aycliffe plant.

The Department for Transport called the shadow chancellor’s comments “inaccurate” and said they did not “reflect the complexity of the process”.

The future of the train factory in Newton Aycliffe has been thrown into doubt by a gap in orders, with work on existing contracts expected to decline by October.

The government said it was working with all rolling stock manufacturers, including Hitachi, on a future pipeline of orders which was expected to "remain strong in the coming years".

'Salvage the wreckage'

Labour and union leaders have been urging Conservative ministers to trigger an extension to the company’s contract to build trains for the West Coast line in order to protect its 750-strong workforce.

Ms Reeves, who visited the Hitachi plant on Wednesday, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that a Labour government would seek to “salvage the wreckage” if the party comes to power later this year.

Speaking on a visit to Cramlington on Thursday morning, the shadow chancellor said: “The business said yesterday that the consultation on redundancies will start in June.

"I don’t know if there will be an election before June, I really hope there is, but the likelihood is that there won’t be."

Asked if a future Labour administration would realistically be able to return jobs to the plant if redundancies went ahead before an election is held, Ms Reeves said she "really" hoped so.

"There will be a general election this year and if Labour wins that election we will make those commitments to them," she said.

'Disingenuous'

Newton Aycliffe's Conservative MP Paul Howell said he had not been told of a potential June start date for any consultation.

He added that he found it impossible to believe the government would fail to act on the issue, if it was possible to act.

"It's disingenuous to imply this can be fixed with the stroke of a pen," he said.

"There is no reason or rationale for the government not to do it, if it could be done.

"We are at a point politically where the last thing the government wants to see is a problem in rail supply."

Mr Howell said he is continuing to engage with Hitachi and its management.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport added the government was "committed" to supporting the entire sector.

"More recently, new long distance trains have been procured on LNER and the tender process for new trains on TransPennine Express is live for all manufacturers to bid for,” the spokesperson said.