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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the potential economic effect of the development of gigafactories.

This Government recognises the economic benefits that securing a UK gigafactory could bring and made this a manifesto commitment. That is why last autumn we announced up to £1 billion of additional funding to develop UK electric vehicle supply chains, and for further electric vehicles research and development.

This builds on the £274 million Government has already invested in the Faraday Battery Challenge through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Faraday is a cutting-edge programme, helping businesses in the UK to lead the world in the design, development, and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre is on course to open for business in spring 2020 with the first industry-led projects to scale-up battery technology fully underway by the summer.

The Faraday Institution commissioned a study which showed that by 2040, an estimated eight gigafactories (of 15GWh per year capacity) will be needed in the UK and consequently employment in the automotive industry and battery supply chain could increase to 246,000 jobs.