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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of granting additional funding for the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) for investment in the national measurement infrastructure; and what assessment he has made of the extent of the contribution which the NEL makes in that area.

The Government fully appreciates the importance of measurement science to the UK’s economic prosperity and quality of life and will continue to deliver a National Measurement System on behalf of Government through the infrastructure of measurement laboratories in the UK.

The UK Measurement Strategy will be published shortly, building on the previous Strategy published in 2011, to focus on key areas that underpin Government priorities over the coming five years. The balance between scientific programmes in which the Government invests will be determined by this strategy.