Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to find an alternative producer of batteries for electric vehicles for the vacant Cambois site since the collapse of Britishvolt and Recharge Industries.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The administration is a matter solely for the administrators. The Government has no formal role in the process.
There are a number of factors that investors take into account when deciding on the location of a gigafactory, but ultimately this remains a commercial matter.
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK’s competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the establishment of gigafactories to support future levels of vehicle manufacturing.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK's competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.
In the last year we have seen high levels of committed investment by our vehicle and EV battery producers, including JLR, Nissan and BMW Mini.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information her Department holds on the projected pay bands of the jobs created at the proposed Data Centre in Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created by the data centre at Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what infrastructure upgrades are required for the proposed Data Centre in Cambois.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
My Department has not made an estimate of the number of permanent jobs that will be created, but I note that Northumberland County Council expect it to deliver over 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and over 2,700 indirect and induced jobs over the course of the development.
Infrastructure upgrades needed to support the site are a commercial negotiation between investors and infrastructure providers.
The Department does not hold information on the projected pay bands of the jobs created by this proposed investment.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the remaining industrial land at the Cambois site for a gigafactory.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
There are a number of factors that investors take into account when deciding on the location of a gigafactory, but ultimately this remains a commercial matter.
It would not be appropriate to comment further as we do not comment on private commercial matters or speculation.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take legislative steps to enable subsidies equivalent to those from the US and EU to help attract manufacturers to build gigafactories in the UK.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK’s competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.
In the last year we have seen high levels of committed investment by our vehicle and EV battery producers, including JLR, Nissan and BMW Mini.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department still plans to improve transport links between Cambois and North Blyth in the context of the failure to agree a deal to build an electric vehicle gigafactory in Cambois.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is for the local transport authority to decide investment priorities for their transport network. The new North-East Mayoral Combined Authority is eligible for a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement of up to £563m to March 2027 to invest in local transport priorities. The programme for which will need to be agreed once the Metro Mayor has been elected. The North-East has also received a future five-year indicative allocation of £1,849m from 2027 to 2032.
This is all in addition to the hundreds of millions of pounds in funding that has or could be provided directly for schemes in this area, including: we have provided funding to ensure that passenger services will return to the Northumberland Line this year; from the billions saved from the scrapping of HS2, as announced in Network North, funding will be available to complete dualling of the A1 from Morpeth to Ellingham, subject to planning consent and approval of a full business case for the project, providing a continuous high quality dual carriageway from Newcastle to Ellingham, north of Alnwick; and Northumberland County Council are developing the Blyth Relief Road scheme, which would provide a new access onto the A189, for possible Department for Transport funding as part of the Major Road Network/Large Local Majors programme.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department still plans to provide funding for infrastructure around the A189 in the context of the failure to agree a deal to build an electric vehicle gigafactory in Cambois.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is for the local transport authority to decide investment priorities for their transport network. The new North-East Mayoral Combined Authority is eligible for a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement of up to £563m to March 2027 to invest in local transport priorities. The programme for which will need to be agreed once the Metro Mayor has been elected. The North-East has also received a future five-year indicative allocation of £1,849m from 2027 to 2032.
This is all in addition to the hundreds of millions of pounds in funding that has or could be provided directly for schemes in this area, including: we have provided funding to ensure that passenger services will return to the Northumberland Line this year; from the billions saved from the scrapping of HS2, as announced in Network North, funding will be available to complete dualling of the A1 from Morpeth to Ellingham, subject to planning consent and approval of a full business case for the project, providing a continuous high quality dual carriageway from Newcastle to Ellingham, north of Alnwick; and Northumberland County Council are developing the Blyth Relief Road scheme, which would provide a new access onto the A189, for possible Department for Transport funding as part of the Major Road Network/Large Local Majors programme.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the failure to agree a deal to build a gigafactory in Cambois on (a) the Gen Zero Campus in Ashington and (b) Energy Central Campus in Blyth.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Ashington campus of Northumberland College is one of the 16 large scale transformational projects that are being delivered by the department in partnership with colleges, as part of the £1.5 billion Further Education Capital Transformation Programme. The 16 colleges in this phase of the programme have some of the worst condition sites in England. The new campus in Ashington is a Gen-Zero development, designed to be ultra-low carbon in both construction and operation, and will provide exciting career pathways for learners across Northumberland and the wider region. The department is funding this project in order to improve the condition of the further education college estate and its investment is not linked to the gigafactory.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities state that the case for the Energy Central Campus in Blyth was based on an assessment of existing net zero skills requirements across the North-East of England. Progress on construction of Phase 1, the Energy Central Learning Hub, is progressing well, with the Hub on course to open in autumn 2024.