Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support the commercialisation of research and development in the science and technology sectors in Darlington.

The Government has pledged to increase public investment in R&D outside the Greater Southeast by at least 40% by 2030, and by at least a third over the spending review period.

Darlington is home to a High Value Manufacturing Catapult centre, the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre. This £38 million biomedical manufacturing research centre has state-of-the-art facilities and expertise to support businesses in scaling new medicines, developing manufacturing solutions, and navigating the pathway towards commercialisation. Last year, the Government announced over £10 million for the catapult to set up the RNA Centre for Excellence, supporting the scale-up of RNA vaccines and therapies.