Pharmaceutical Industry

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and Laura Sandys

Wednesday 21st March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s point, but I cannot refer to Sanofi as yesterday’s plans, when it is open currently and there are 90 days of consultation in which to turn the situation around. That is an important point for my debate today. I nevertheless thank him for his intervention.

Retaining our world-class status in pharmaceuticals means ensuring that the Government work actively and intelligently with businesses such as Sanofi to retain research and development and manufacturing capability. There is huge global potential here: as the world’s prosperity increases, with a growing and ageing population, Sanofi’s products made in Newcastle will be in demand. The biggest questions of all are, of course, those raised by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Where is the clear and confident message about the way Britain will earn its living? When will the Government start to act decisively on their call for an industrial strategy?

In the meantime, there are many practical issues for my constituents, which I urge the Minister to address by way of a Government-backed taskforce. Pfizer staff received a package of support, including counselling, careers advice, CV writing and retraining. What support will Sanofi be able to offer its loyal employees in acquiring new skills? What are the intentions for the site? The Discovery park in Sandwich is being heavily promoted and marketed to attract investment. In the longer term, how can we get into the north-east the sort of jobs and small and medium-sized enterprises that the Minister talked about last year?

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

I welcome this debate, and I feel for the hon. Lady’s community, as mine in Sandwich was impacted by the Pfizer closure. I would also like to give some constancy and hope to the community in Newcastle. What came out of the difficulties and major challenges we faced was a reinvigorated environment—in many ways a community similar to what my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) described, given his vision of how a pharmaceutical community can work in the new model. After one year, we now have 900 committed jobs on the site, and more spin-out companies on the verge of creating themselves, which is exciting.

[Catherine McKinnell]

I thank the hon. Lady for her words of comfort, but I do not think that what she said will be entirely comforting to those in Newcastle, given that we face a very different situation. We are talking about a production plant, not a research and development plant, while the north-east faces higher levels of unemployment than any other part of the country. That adds to the deep anxiety in my region, but I thank her for her words.

In his oral evidence to the Science and Technology Committee after the Pfizer closure, the Minister said that he recognised that there was a London-Oxford-Cambridge cluster for research and hence for the SMEs that are the future of pharmaceuticals. In business questions last week, the Business Secretary admitted that there was a financing gap, with venture capitalists unwilling to provide much needed finance to SMEs outside that cluster. My colleague who asked the question referred to it as the “golden triangle”. The Business Secretary said that the business growth fund—a private sector initiative—was already beginning to fill that gap. The Government surely need to oversee that, however, to ensure that my region gets the investment it so badly needs. Newcastle is a long way from that triangle, and I hope that we will not be abandoned.

We have an outstanding tradition of manufacturing and production in the north-east, and a population of adults who are ready, able and willing to work. Newcastle is a great science city with world-class universities that provide excellent research. I want the Government to make use of the north-east’s potential, and to start by keeping the Fawdon manufacturing centre open. I would like the Government to assist in the recovery of the Sanofi Fawdon manufacturing centre, just as it did in the case of Pfizer. That would have been an excellent project for our regional development agency, One North East. Previously, if a major employer had announced job losses, a taskforce would have emerged from One North East to provide help and support for the business and its employees.

Our local community has already established a very determined taskforce comprised of Unite, local councillors, local MPs and other stakeholders. Our aims are to keep the skills of Sanofi staff, make a future for the centre, and secure the investment needed to keep it open. I urge the Minister to give his support to our taskforce without delay to help to save Sanofi and the 500 or so jobs at stake in Fawdon.