Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Yuan Yang

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to attract inward investment.

[The Minister for Industry (Sarah Jones)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and welcome her and her expertise to this House. As she knows, investment by private corporations was the lowest in the G7 for almost all of the last Parliament, and the new Government are determined to reverse that decline. That begins with economic stability, something every business we talk to is crying out for. It involves the development of our industrial strategy, the levers to encourage investment, the national wealth fund, the British jobs bonus and the Industrial Strategy Council, which will provide the infrastructure that investors can understand and deal with. Next month, we will host the international investment summit with 300 industry leaders, demonstrating our mission of long-term growth, and because there is not a moment to lose, I am going to Italy tomorrow to meet key Italian investors to the UK and show that Britain is back.

[Yuan Yang]

I thank the Minister for her remarks, and wish her the best of success on her trip tomorrow. One of Europe’s best-performing sites for foreign direct investment in the life sciences is the Thames valley, including my constituency of Earley and Woodley, and our local hospital trust—the Royal Berkshire NHS foundation trust—recently became the first in the country to be awarded for world-class excellence in its clinical research. Will the Minister meet with me, local life science businesses and hospital staff to discuss how to accelerate investment in our life sciences industrial cluster?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for championing such a vital sector—our most recent data shows that UK life sciences employs over 300,000 people, generating a turnover of over £100 billion. With the NHS back on its feet under this new Government, working hand in hand with life sciences, research institutions and others, we can drive the development of new treatments and help grow our industries. Of course, I would love to meet with my hon. Friend.