Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Tuesday 15th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

10. What steps he is taking to support the aerospace industry.

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

14. What steps he is taking to support the aerospace industry.

[The Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise (Anna Soubry)]

I was delighted that in the spending review the Government committed a further £900 million of funding for aerospace research and development, supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute. That means that this Government will invest almost £2 billion in aerospace research over 13 years to 2025-26, so our world-leading aerospace industry can stay at the forefront of development and capitalise on the estimated £3.6 trillion market for new aircraft that will be needed over the next 20 years.

[Andrew Stephenson]

I recently met Mark Porter and Jon Brough, the trade union representatives at Rolls-Royce’s two sites at Barnoldswick in my constituency. They welcome the continuation of Government support for the aerospace growth partnership in the comprehensive spending review. However, they remain concerned about the outsourcing of high-value engineering jobs to low-cost countries. What more can my right hon. Friend do to address this concern?

[Anna Soubry]

I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the concerns of all those he has met with. Rolls-Royce, along with the aerospace sector as a whole, is a major contributor to the United Kingdom economy, so we get how important it is. That is why we have protected and, indeed, extended the investment that we are making in research and development.