Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she has taken to encourage investment in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

The Office for Investment (OfI) works with stakeholders across Staffordshire and Newcastle Under Lyme to promote strategic Investment opportunities to create high quality job growth in the region. OfI has funded a strategic key account management initiative in Staffordshire and Newcastle Under Lyme, to provide direct support to investors.

I am delighted that Keele University, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, is ambitious to grow their successful Science and Innovation Park, and the OfI is supporting their work to bring this forward.