(Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab)
3. What steps he is taking to promote the onshoring of
manufacturing jobs and production to the UK.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy ()
The Government are committed to a strong, vibrant and diverse
manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom. The west midlands—and
the UK as a whole—is already a great place to do business. The
Government will continue to focus on encouraging businesses,
improving the long-term competitiveness and productivity of
manufacturing via initiatives such as Help to Grow, the Made
Smarter programme, the Catapult programme and others.
For this country’s manufacturing base to prosper and succeed, it
requires a firm commitment from Government to support the making
and buying of goods manufactured in Britain. The Minister will be
familiar with the shameful decision by Melrose to shut a factory
in Chester Road, Erdington with 70 years of history; those
manufacturing jobs were instead exported to Poland. What steps
will he take to recoup the £67 million of taxpayers’ money given
to Melrose to export jobs to Poland? Will he send an
unmistakeable message to Melrose that it will get not one penny
more of taxpayers’ support unless it works with the workforce and
all the key stakeholders to find an alternative manufacturing use
for its site in one of the most deprived communities in
Britain?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for the question. We were
disappointed, as he was, by GKN Melrose’s
decision. Ultimately, such decisions are for individual
companies, but we realise the significant impact on his community
and are working with the local community to try to find
alternative ways to support employees in the area.
