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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the speech delivered by the Prime Minister on 21 November 2016 at the CBI annual conference, how much of the extra £2 billion funding will be spent on skills training.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been clear that the £2 billion will be invested in research and development and will include a New Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help Britain capitalise on its strengths in cutting-edge research. We will set out more detail on funding breakdown and proposals, including for wider engagement with the research and business community, in due course.