Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of support for battery manufacturers and recyclers in the UK, the EU, the United States, China and India.

The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to building and maintaining UK battery manufacturing capability to meet domestic demand. DRIVE35 provides £4 billion of long-term support for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing, including capital and R&D funding for batteries, gigafactories, and recycling and has supported the AESC battery facility in Sunderland and the Agratas facility at Somerset. Recycling is also supported through the £452m Battery Innovation Programme, the UK’s largest single commitment to battery R&D, with recent funding awarded to projects led by Altilium Metals, Watercycle Technologies and European Metal Recycling.

We continue to monitor EU, US and other international approaches. We are focused on strengthening our domestic capacity and diversifying supply chains to support the UK’s economic resilience and competitiveness.