Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of its policies on the automotive sector on the competitiveness of that sector.
Anna Soubry
The Government works closely with the automotive industry, in particular through the Automotive Council, on competitiveness issues affecting the sector. In November 2015, the Automotive Council published an assessment of the UK’s international competitiveness on their website. UK automotive sector productivity is the highest in Europe compared to other major European producers. Car production reached a 10-year high in 2015 at 1.59 million vehicles, with almost 80% of these exported to over 100 countries. In addition, the value of UK sourced components by vehicle manufacturers has increased from 36% in 2011 to 41% in 2015. The sector is at the forefront in the design and use of high quality Apprenticeships to ensure the skilled workforce required to support future growth.
