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

To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent the decision regarding the merger of Nexperia and Newport Wafer Fab will be based on (1) the risk of Chinese ownership of the UK semiconductor industry, or (2) the risk of damage to the UK semiconductor industry.

On 25 May, the Secretary of State called in the acquisition by Nexperia of Newport Wafer Fab for a full national security assessment under the National Security and Investment Act. That process is underway and will proceed in line with statutory timescales. It would not be appropriate to comment further on the Government’s assessment at this stage.

Separately to this case, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is undertaking a review of the semiconductor sector, working closely with industry experts and representative bodies. The outcome of that review will be concluded later in the year.