Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to (a) support the manufacturing sector and (b) help increase national productivity.

The government has a strong track record of backing the sector and in November published our Advanced Manufacturing Plan (AMP) which aims to make the UK the best place in the world to start, scale up and invest in manufacturing.

Our plan, which builds on our extensive existing support, is underpinned by a £4.5bn commitment for strategic manufacturing sectors to 2030, a further £16 million to expand SME digital adoption through Made Smarter, provides tax relief and includes measures aimed at improving our business environment including grid connection, supply chain resilience and the UKs first Battery Strategy.

Made Smarter equips businesses with funding and tailored advise from specialists on the successful adoption of applications such as machine learning, data/systems integration and robotics to help drive efficiency, increase automation and raise productivity.