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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support manufacturing in the North East of England.

The Government recognises the importance of manufacturing to the North East and to the economy. Through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal, we are supporting job growth and economic development with £379.6 million of funding from the Local Growth Fund. This includes £42 million of funding for the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) in Sunderland. Sunderland Council estimates that the IAMP will attract £300 million of private sector investment to help grow local manufacturing sectors.

We are also giving over £600 million to support the High Value Manufacturing Catapult network; their Centre for Process Innovation at Wilton focuses on the commercialisation of innovation, research and development, helping North East manufacturers to develop and adopt cutting edge technology.