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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of falls in factory output on the recent growth slowdown in the UK manufacturing sector.

Whilst the latest Index of Production figures for December 2018 show that manufacturing output fell by 0.7% on the previous month, in fact, manufacturing output for the entirety of 2018 rose by 0.9% compared to 2017 levels.

The government recognises that the manufacturing sector remains a vital contributor to the economy of the UK, driving innovation, exports, job creation, and productivity growth. The sector supports 2.7 million jobs, generates 49% of the UK total exports of goods and services, and accounts for 66% of all business expenditure on UK R&D. Through our modern Industrial Strategy and Made Smarter – our key national industrial digitalisation programme – we are building an economy fit for the future. In the process, we are exploiting the wealth of opportunities from next generation technologies that foster competitive business environments, allowing for UK manufacturing to flourish. As the 9^th largest global manufacturing economy, we are – and will continue to be – a major manufacturing nation.