Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has a strategy for the production of semiconductors in Britain.

The Government recognises the importance of semiconductor technology to the global economy. Semiconductors are a fundamental enabling technology for electronic devices and the UK holds strengths in critical aspects of the advanced semiconductor supply chain, including semiconductor design.

On behalf of the government, DCMS has been reviewing its approach to the UK’s global semiconductor sector and intends to set out its support for the sector in the forthcoming UK Semiconductor Strategy. This will build on existing HMG support for innovation and infrastructure such as the Driving the Electronic Revolution challenge and the National Epitaxy Facility amongst others.

Domestically, the government is exploring how we can further support the UK semiconductor industry, protecting and growing existing UK capabilities, and seizing new opportunities - including in semiconductor design, compound chips, and academic research in related fields. We are also collaborating closely with international partners to capitalise and strengthen the UK’s competitive advantage and improve long term resilience within the global semiconductor ecosystem, recognising that the challenges facing the sector cannot be solved by the UK alone.