Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which local enterprise partnerships (a) his Department and (b) the Offshore Wind Industry Council are working with to develop clusters of business formation for the offshore industry supply chain.

In 2011 we established the Centre for Offshore Renewable Engineering (CORE) network, and through this network my department and other members of the Offshore Wind Industry Council are working with six local enterprise partnerships to support the offshore industry supply chain.

The six local enterprise partnerships in the CORE network are North East, Humber, New Anglia, Liverpool City Region, South East and your own local enterprise partnership area, Tees Valley. These areas are recognised as having existing port infrastructure, skills, supply chain and local government support to enable rapid growth within the offshore wind sector.

My Department also works with other local enterprise partnerships where growth opportunities are identified in other areas. The CORE network is working successfully with the Offshore Wind Investment Organisation, in UK Trade and Investment, to raise the profile of CORE areas as investment locations for major offshore wind companies and to realise the supply chain opportunities linked to these investments. The most recent CORE brochure was an excellent example of Local Enterprise Partnerships working with Government to grow local economies.