Amanda Milling, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, raised the issue of the potential closure of Rugeley Power Station in Prime Minister’s Questions today (Wednesday 10th February).
Since Engie’s announcement, on Monday 8th February, that Rugeley Power Station is expected to cease operations in the summer, Amanda has been calling on the Government to provide support to the workers affected and the need for the speedy re-development of the site, if the power station does close.
Amanda held urgent talks with the Rt Hon Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on Monday and has subsequently written a letter to the Secretary of State outlining the measures of support that the Government should be providing to the power station’s workers, the Rugeley community and the local economy.
Amanda Milling said:
“I wanted to raise the situation at Rugeley Power Station with the Prime Minister and gain his support for discussions on how the Government can support the 150 workers at the Power Station, as well as those workers in the wider supply chain. In the short term, helping all of these workers is my key priority. “
Amanda added:
“This question follows a letter that I have written to the Rt Hon Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, seeking a meeting to discuss the package of measures that I am calling for to help support all of the workers at the power station. In addition, I have set out the Government assistance required to redevelop the site quickly, should the power station close. Getting new businesses and jobs into Rugeley is vitally important. There are also other considerations such as the loss of the site’s leisure facilities which will potentially lead to several sports clubs finding themselves homeless.”
The MP is also visiting the Power Station on Friday 12th February to meet with management, staff and the Unions to discuss the situation further and decide how further support can be arranged to assist any affected workers finding new jobs.
You can watch Amanda’s question to the Prime Minister here - http://goo.gl/jJr20M
The first Hansard script is below:
Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase) (Con):
When I was growing up, I always knew I was nearly home when I saw the iconic cooling towers of the Rugeley power stations on the horizon. On Monday, the owners of the remaining power station announced its likely closure this summer. Will my right hon. Friend ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to meet me to discuss further the Government support that can be given to the 150 workers, and the provision that can be made to ensure that the site is redeveloped as quickly as possible?
The Prime Minister:
I will certainly arrange for that meeting to take place. We should thank everyone who has worked at power stations that come to the end of their lives for the work that they have done to give us electricity to keep the lights on and our economy moving. My hon. Friend is right: as coal-fired power stations come to the end of their lives, we must ensure that proper redevelopment takes place so that we provide jobs for constituents like hers.