Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the UK civil and military helicopter sector.

The Government seeks to keep the UK a leading aerospace nation by continuing to work closely with the sector, including with the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs, through the Governments Industrial Strategy.

Through the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP), Government and industry have committed £3.9 billion for aerospace research; and through the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP), Government is supporting the UK defence sector to remove the barriers to export-led growth. While the global helicopter market currently faces challenges, civil aircraft programmes are thriving, with record order books for Rolls-Royce, Airbus and their UK supply chains, which includes GKN.