Industrial Strategy

Rebecca Pow Excerpts

Monday 27th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

When the hon. Lady studies the White Paper in detail, she will see that one of the proposals is to look at the dynamic effect of investments—how a transport investment can transform the prospects of an area. That can be taken into account, we propose, in making transport decisions in the future, which will be of benefit to her constituents.

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

I, too, welcome the drive to up productivity with its links to the clean growth strategy. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this approach to upping productivity is one of the best planks that we can put in place for continued prosperity and sustainability? Would he like to pay a visit to Taunton Deane, to look at the opportunities provided therein for some of the funding to come our way? We must not forget the south-west, and we have a great opportunity on our new Nexus business site.

[Greg Clark]

I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. As she points out, not just in this country but all around the world economies are becoming cleaner and greener, and if we can establish leadership in the research and development and, critically, the translation of those discoveries into industrial products and processes, we can benefit substantially. We are already doing that in the offshore wind industry and others. It is a world full of opportunities for more of that, and of course the south-west has a particular role to play in that.