Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether it is her Department's policy to roll out the made smarter programme nationally.

The Government has committed almost £200 million for Made Smarter to help UK manufacturers capitalise on Industrial Digital Technologies.

The £50m Made Smarter Adoption programme is available in 5 English regions.

It is complemented by a £147m Innovate UK-led Made Smarter Innovation programme.

The £9m invested in the Adoption programme’s pilot phase added an estimated £68m gross value added to the region and an increase in 800 SME manufacturing jobs. Further evidence is being gathered including through a full evaluation of the programme. This will inform any future iterations of the programme, as part of the usual policy-making process.