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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have for the improvement of productivity in business and manufacturing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are strongly committed to supporting UK manufacturing, which plays a vital role in the UK economy by driving innovation, exports, job creation, and productivity growth.

We are also committed to ongoing engagement with industry to ensure?our manufacturers?have the support?they need to maintain production effectively. We have put in place an unprecedented package of Government support for businesses during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The Business Productivity Review announced a £56 million package of support and set out the steps we will take to boost business productivity, focusing on leadership and management skills, technology adoption, and external support. These measures will help businesses respond to and recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic..

Through our Business Basics Programme, we are also testing new ways of encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including those in the manufacturing sector, to adopt tried and tested technology and management practices that can boost productivity.

Through the Made Smarter programme, we are investing up to £167 million to help UK manufacturers to adopt and innovate in industrial digital technologies that will make our firms more productive. We are investing up to £147 million for a Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme to develop innovative solutions to manufacturing challenges, as well as £20 million through our Made Smarter North West Pilot to support up to 3000 manufacturing SMEs to adopt and exploit digital technologies to increase their productivity. This could add £115 million to the North West economy and increase productivity by up to 25% by 2030.