Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a Build Back Better fund to help the manufacturing sector recover after COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is, and will continue to be, a champion of the needs of business and industry, including the UK manufacturing sector. This is why the principles of our Plan for Growth, and its supporting strategies will put the UK at the forefront of opportunities, give businesses the confidence to invest, boost productivity across the UK, enable our green industrial revolution, and support our vision for Global Britain.
As part of the Spending Review, my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Made Smarter Adoption programme award of £24 million for the period covering 2022-25 to help manufacturing SMEs increase productivity, competitiveness and drive-up efficiency by adopting industrial digital technology. This funding is in addition to the £8 million committed to the programme for the period covering 2021-22 and builds on the success of the £20 million North West pilot.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the manufacturing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, we have engaged closely with manufacturing industry through sector roundtables and by talking directly to businesses. This has helped shape the Government’s unprecedented package of support which has included loan schemes, grant funding, tax deferrals and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all of which is designed to be accessible to businesses in most sectors including manufacturing.
We are also investing £147 million through a Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme and have invested £730 million in the seven High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres, supporting manufacturers in bringing new technologies to market.
We recently announced £8 million in new Government funding to help manufacturing SMEs increase productivity, competitiveness and drive up efficiency by adopting industrial digital technology, building on the success of our Made Smarter North West Pilot.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Government-backed equity fund to help the recapitalisation of supply chain companies in the (a) aerospace and (b) wider manufacturing sector.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government is committed to supporting businesses access the finance they need to achieve their full growth potential. For some companies, further debt may not be the right answer, and the private sector should be the first port of call for any business seeking new equity investment.
The aerospace sector and its aviation customers are being supported with over £9 billion support through the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, grants for research and development, loan guarantees and support for aerospace exports.
The manufacturing sector has been well supported in its ability to access finance through the government loan schemes throughout the current pandemic period. Manufacturing firms have had over 7,000 CBILS loans worth over £2bn and over 74,000 BBLS loans worth over £2.3bn, bringing the total amount received through CBILS and BBLS to £4.4bn to over 80,000 manufacturing firms. These figures indicate that manufacturing firms have received a higher proportion of lending through the schemes relative to their share of the UK SME business population.
The Government will keep policy under review, and rigorously test any proposals for their value for money.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with manufacturers about the impact of COVID-19 on jobs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Manufacturing is a critical part of our economy,?and?the Department?continues to regularly engage with industry, suppliers, and trade associations to ensure that we can support our?manufacturing sectors?during and after the Covid-19 crisis. We have made £2 billion in Government-backed finance available to manufacturers through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and £2.3 billion through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme to help firms keep operating. We have also provided support totalling £4.78 billion through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended to March 2021 to protect people’s wages and manufacturing jobs across the UK.
The Government is also continuing to support growth in the sector through investments into: Made Smarter, to help manufacturers reap the benefits of industrial digital technology; the High Value Manufacturing Catapult network, to support manufacturers in commercialising innovation, and; innovation programmes such as the Automotive Transformation Fund to ensure the UK can unlock future markets and lead future industries. Through our Lifetime Skills Guarantee we are also making it easier for people to retrain for jobs of the future.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the UK's ability to manufacture key materials and goods.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Manufacturing key materials and goods is critical for our economy. The Department has been engaging with industry and suppliers throughout the pandemic to understand the impacts on production and what support is needed in order for businesses to remain operational.
We have put in place an unprecedented package of Government support to help manufacturers with business continuity and to enable any businesses that may have had to pause production to get back up and running as soon as they are able. The sector has so far benefitted from £2 billion in Government-backed finance through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme; £2.3 billion through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme; and £4.78 billion to manufacturers through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent skills losses in the manufacturing industry when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As at 16th August 2020, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has helped 74,800 manufacturing employers across the UK to furlough just over 1 million jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods. As we re-open the economy, it is right that our focus shifts to getting furloughed employees back to work.
Throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, we have engaged closely with the UK’s manufacturing sectors and their input has helped to shape the Government’s response. This engagement includes a series of recovery roundtables, chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, bringing together businesses, business representative groups (including Make UK), and leading academics. Participants discussed the potential measures needed to support economic recovery and to ensure we have the right skills in place to meet the needs of the manufacturing industry over the next 18 months.
This builds on the Government’s commitment to invest in manufacturing research and developmetn and innovation. For example, we are investing up to £1 billion of additional funding to develop and embed the next generation of cutting-edge automotive technologies through the Automotive Transformation Fund, as well as £1.9 billion up to 2026 for the Aerospace Technology Research programme, helping to secure future jobs in these strategically important sectors.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the financial loss to the manufacturing industry in Wales as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I appreciate the huge impact Covid-19 has had on business owners and employees in the Welsh manufacturing sector and have met with stakeholders across the sector to discuss concerns.
The UK Government has taken prompt and decisive action to support the economy during these difficult times. We have implemented unprecedented measures to help businesses through the outbreak, including through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, VAT deferral and Bounce Back Loans.
Our measures to keep Welsh workers in Jobs have included the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“furlough”) and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Up to 30 June 2020, 378,400 employments were furloughed and 108,000 SEISS claims worth £289m were made in Wales. Via Barnett Consequentials, the Welsh Government has received an additional £2.8bn to support the fight against Covid-19, including an additional £500m as a result of spending announced at the Summer Economic Update by the Chancellor.
The UK Government has also provided a loan directly to Celsa Steel to help support them during these difficult times. This loan secured 800 positions at the company’s main site in South Wales.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many companies have (a) contacted and (b) been engaged by the Government to assist with the manufacture of equipment to help tackle the covid-19 outbreak in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Northumberland and (d) Wansbeck constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are building up United Kingdom manufacturing with signed contracts to manufacture over 2 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) through UK-based manufacturers, including facemasks, visors, gowns and aprons.
The Government is currently in contact with over 350 potential UK manufacturers. Engineering efforts by small companies are being scaled up and we have already taken delivery of products from new, certified UK manufacturers.
To date, we have authorised the release of over 139 million items of PPE to local resilience forums to help them respond to urgent local spikes in need across the adult social care system and some other frontline services, where providers are unable to access PPE through their usual, or dedicated wholesaler routes.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2020 to Question 56024 on Manufacturing Industries: Coronavirus, what discussions his Department had with Rolls-Royce and on what dates those discussions took place.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2020 to Question 56024 on Manufacturing Industries: Coronavirus, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Government task-force in relation to UK-based Rolls-Royce jobs.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government regularly speaks with manufacturing companies and has worked closely with Rolls Royce in response to COVID-19. Rolls Royce is making use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which has so far protected 9.2 million workers and 1.1 million businesses through this crisis (as at midnight 21 June 2020). Rolls has also drawn £300m of short-term finance from the Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).
Where firms make the decision that they cannot retain all of their staff over the longer run, we are ensuring that those looking for work are supported through a significant package of temporary welfare measures. This includes: £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants.