Economy: Business Investment

Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

In the light of the good news that Hitachi is intending to invest in rolling stock manufacturing capacity and that Siemens is investing in wind farm equipment manufacturing in the UK, what further efforts are the Government making to use their procurement strength to ensure that we get more manufacturing capacity invested in the UK and more apprentices?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend is right to highlight the excellent news that Siemens is to invest £160 million in the Hull area. Hitachi’s announcement that it will move its global rail headquarters to the UK is a further vote of confidence in companies investing in the UK. Among other actions, the Government recently announced a new college to train the next generation of world-class engineers working on the construction of High Speed 2, and we hope that it will train up to 2,000 apprentices. This will provide further opportunities for young people to have secure, long-term careers.