Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote manufacturing in the North.

The Government recognises that the North of England is home to a wealth of manufacturing assets that play a crucial role in boosting regional economies. Advanced Manufacturing – as identified in the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review, published in 2016 – is one of the North’s ‘prime capabilities’, and an historic strength.

Through Made Smarter – our key national industrial digitalisation programme – we are investing over £140m to ensure that the UK is at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In January 2019, we launched the Made Smarter North West Pilot; backed by £20m of government funding, this pilot is working with the Northern Powerhouse, and local partners, to provide support for up to 3000 manufacturing SMEs to adopt, and exploit, digital technology to increase their productivity. 600 of these SMEs will be able to receive intensive support, and 480 of those companies will be able to access grants of up to £20,000 to spend on specialist advice, kit, and technology.

In addition to Made Smarter, we are investing significantly in projects that will benefit the North, as well as the UK in general. We:

• Are investing £3.4 billion up to 2021 in the Northern Powerhouse through “Growth Deals”
• Established the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), in the Sheffield City Region. It has received Government Growth Deal funding to help secure recent major investments from Boeing, and McLaren
• Established the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in Wilton, that focuses on the commercialisation of R&D in advanced manufacturing to support major markets, such as healthcare, electronics, food and drink, aerospace, automotive, materials, and energy. The AMRC and CPI are two of the seven centres that make up the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

We want all areas across the country, including the North, to benefit from exciting new technologies that can transform industry, and society, giving our great cities the power, and resources that they need to reach their huge untapped potential.