Procurement

(asked on 10th September 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help tackle supply chain issues affecting businesses in (a) Newport West constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 20th September 2021

The Government is committed to supporting UK manufacturing businesses and recognises the vital role they play in the UK economy, by driving innovation, exports, job creation and productivity growth. We hold regular discussions with industry stakeholders to better understand the issues affecting supply chains, and recognise the significant pressures being felt by industry as a result of supply chain disruption, as well as the impact this is placing on businesses. Successful resolution of these issues will be a joint effort between industry and Government, and we will continue to engage with other departments to find practical solutions to these challenges, which are not unique to the UK.

In order to support UK manufacturing, we are investing £147 million through a Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme and have invested £730 million in the seven High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres, supporting manufacturers in bringing new technologies to market.

Furthermore, we have introduced a Super Deduction that will cut manufacturers’ tax bill by 25p for every pound they invest in new equipment, which means they can reduce their taxable profits by 130% of the cost. In addition, the Government has a target for total R&D investment to reach 2.4% of GDP by 2027 and in our recent Innovation Strategy we have committed to increase our annual public investment in R&D to a record £22billion.

The Government has provided over £3.4 billion in direct support to businesses in Wales throughout the pandemic. This is on top of our support for the manufacturing sector through our £4.8m commitment to the development of Holyhead Hydrogen Hub, £30m for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence and £30m for Celsa Steel.

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