Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what funding is targeted at smaller Tier 2/3 automotive suppliers and whether his Department holds data on take up of available funding and support by these suppliers.

Through DRIVE35, the Government is providing £4 billion of capital and research and development funding to 2035 to support the transition to zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and its supply chain. Funding is available to businesses of all sizes, including smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, across DRIVE35’s Innovation, Scale-Up and Transformation pillars.

As part of DRIVE35, the £100 million Supplier Readiness and Transformation (SRT) programme provides targeted capital support to automotive suppliers in the West Midlands and North East, helping businesses transition to EV manufacturing and strengthen their competitiveness.

The Department and its delivery partners monitor the delivery and the reach of DRIVE35 support. However, data is not routinely held or reported comprehensively by automotive supply-chain tier, and many businesses operate across different tiers or supply multiple sectors.