Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Yes. I would expect all competitive areas to make a bid for these places. The University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridgeshire, and other institutions more broadly across the country, will be in a good position to benefit from that.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

21. The aerospace sector is of vital importance to the economy in the north-west of England. In December, I was delighted to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick ahead of its £50 million expansion of its Pendle site. How can the Government’s industrial strategy help to further the growth of our aerospace sector?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is an important sector, as has been evident from our discussions this morning. That reflects the track record of working together that will continue and be reinforced. I think that all Members across the House will have been as delighted as I was that Boeing made its commitment to its first ever UK plant in Sheffield, showing how attractive we are to advanced manufacturing businesses such as that.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Jesse Norman)]

Of course, the primary effect of success in that area will be to keep costs down for small business, as well as for large.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

On Friday, I visited Graham Engineering, in Nelson. It is an excellent company in the nuclear supply chain that currently has 30 new vacancies, which will be on offer at my seventh annual Pendle jobs fair on 24 March. What more can we do to support the nuclear supply chain?

[Greg Clark]

One of the things that we have done to support the nuclear supply chain is to have a continuing commitment to nuclear power in this country, and that will benefit my hon. Friend’s constituents. Through our network of training colleges, we will make sure that we grow the nuclear skills that we need for this industry.