Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to undertake supplier engagement events in Tees Valley for small and medium-sized enterprises providing (a) engineering, (b) manufacturing, (c) maritime and (d) inspection and quality assurance services.

Defence holds supplier engagement events across the country, such as the upcoming Defence Procurement and Supply Chain Summit on 22 October in Manchester, which are open to all attendees regardless of their home constituency.

While there are no immediate plans to hold an event specifically in the Tees Valley, the hon. Gentleman may wish to encourage SMEs in your constituency to consider joining other government partner networks such as the Tees Valley Growth Hub or the North East Regional Defence and Security Cluster to access local events in the region. For example, the Cluster has an ‘Introduction To Defence’ event in Sunderland on 10 November available to its members. Likewise, trade associations offer another avenue for SMEs to access engagement events; Make UK held a manufacturing Expo at Hardwick Hall in Sedgefield in June.