Manufacturing: West Midlands

Part of Business and Trade – in the House of Commons at on 13 March 2025.

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Photo of Sarah Jones Sarah Jones Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero), Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; we do not want a race to the bottom. Advanced manufacturing jobs in the west midlands are well paid for a reason: there is a very highly skilled workforce and we want to protect and grow that. He is right that there is more that we can do. Some £2 billion was set aside in the Budget for the automative sector and just shy of £1 billion for aerospace. That will help; however, we can further reduce the barriers, whether around regulation, planning or trading and export, and we are working as fast as we can to do just that.