Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Alison Seabeck

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the key challenge now faced by the car industry, which is a great success story, is to progress the success of OEMs—original equipment manufacturers—which are expanding, down through their supply chains, which were hollowed out in earlier years. We are addressing that issue through the Automotive Council and the industry strategy. That is progressing well, but it does need a great deal of support for the training base and the training of engineers, which is what we are doing through our apprenticeship programme.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

Young people across Plymouth are telling me that they feel as though they are little more than walking pots of money when it comes to careers advice and that schools are almost harassing them at times to keep them in school. That obviously militates against some of them going to do engineering apprenticeships, as my neighbour the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) has pointed out. What more can the Secretary of State do to set up an independent careers advice arrangement, so that these young people can get broader advice, not specific and closed advice from their schools?

Industrial Strategy

Debate between Vince Cable and Alison Seabeck

Monday 10th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

That is an extremely good suggestion and I am very happy to talk to the hon. Gentleman in more detail about how he sees this happening. Of course, we have the local enterprise partnerships—perhaps they have a key role in making that happen. However, his premise is correct: it is entrepreneurs in the private sector who will drive recovery, and they are fundamental to the industrial strategy.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

There was no mention in the Secretary of State’s statement of the defence sector, yet we have had some notable losses of export opportunities, a lot of rhetoric and very little action in the last two and a half years. Will he set out what lessons he thinks he can learn from the United States and France in the way they work with, protect and promote their defence industries?

[Vince Cable]

Of course, the defence sector does have an important role to play in the approach I am developing, particularly in procurement and in research and development. We want that approach to be fully cross-government, and it will include defence. We work closely with the French, as the hon. Lady knows, in the aerospace sector and we learn from their experiences, not all of which are successful, one has to say.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Alison Seabeck

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Within the last few months I have been to Sheffield to open a new centre developing frontier research on materials. There is in addition work on aerodynamics, which we developed through a new grant under the leadership programme that we have in relation to the aerospace sector. Aerospace is an excellent example of how Government and industry can work together to create growth and world-leading industries.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

I welcome the new team, who will be very aware that the Government’s stated policy is to improve UK growth through exports. Will they therefore explain why there is only one UK delegate to the NATO delegation supporting British defence industry and exports to that particular market? The US have got 40, the French and Germans have several—can we please have a bit of joined-up government and will he talk to his colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office?

[Vince Cable]

I can explain what happened at that conference. My ministerial colleagues and I spend a great deal of time promoting defence exports, which are one of the main success stories in the rapid growth of our exports and one of the main features of the rebalancing that is taking place.