Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help develop supply chains for (a) compound semiconductors and (b) other critical semiconductor materials.

This Government is supporting the development of supply chains for compound semiconductors and other critical semiconductor materials as part of our work to deliver the upcoming Industrial Strategy, which includes Digital and Technologies as a priority growth-driving sector. We recently secured a £250 million investment from one of the world’s largest manufacturers of semiconductors - Vishay Technologies – into the UK’s largest semiconductor facility as part of plans to develop large-scale compound semiconductor manufacturing in the UK, supported by the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund. Investments such as this will help develop UK supply chains in this high growth area of technology.