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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to help businesses create more highly skilled jobs in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent.

The Government has invited all Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England to develop Local Industrial Strategies. We aim to agree these with all places by early 2020. For Kent, the South East LEP will set out an ambitious long-term vision for the area to increase its productivity, build on its established strengths, and create new opportunities for people and businesses in emerging sectors and industries.

The government know that regions across the UK have different skills needs, so will build on local strengths to deliver opportunities for people wherever they live. One way we will achieve this is through Skills Advisory Panels which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs and work together to understand and address key local challenges. These Panels will be led by the Local Enterprise Partnership, and will influence Local Industrial Strategy development.

In Kent, and the wider South East LEP area, the government is working in partnership with local business and civic leaders to grow skills and opportunities for workers across the area by:

- Delivering an increase of 198,900 jobs since 2010 and 31,080 apprenticeship starts last year.

- Investing £590 million of Growth Deal funding to the South East LEP since 2014. delivering 78,000 jobs, 29,000 homes and attracting a further £960 million extra investment into the South East, including £22 million spent on 29 skills projects.

- Investing £6.5 million for the Kent and Medway EDGE Hub. .

- Backing the Innovation Park Medway, within the Kent Enterprise Zone with £4.4 million funding to help attract high quality technology, engineering and manufacturing companies to the area.

Supporting the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Kent and Medway Growth Hub to help small and medium sized enterprises in the areas access the support they need to grow and thrive.