Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Health-Related Manufacturers

Tuesday 13 April 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK is positioning itself as a premier location for life sciences businesses.
  • Government highlights production of vaccines and advanced medical technologies across various UK locations.
  • UK increased domestic PPE production capacity to 70% by Christmas last year.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Ian Lavery Lab Blyth and Ashington
NHS Business & Trade
Context

The question stems from the need to support UK-based manufacturing in the healthcare sector, aiming to bring more jobs and investment into local areas.

Question

What steps he is taking to encourage health-related manufacturers to base themselves in the UK. The MP asks about specific initiatives or incentives being offered to attract such businesses.

Answer from Matthew Hancock

The UK is one of the best places in the world to locate a life sciences business. We are making vaccines in Livingston, Wrexham, Oxford and Hartlepool. We are making cell and gene therapies in Stevenage, surgical robots in Cambridge, cancer medicines in Macclesfield, hip replacements in Leeds and care products in Hull. Last week, we announced another £20 million fund to incentivise companies to put medicines and diagnostics manufacturing investments here in the UK.

Answered
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Q2 Ian Lavery Lab Blyth and Ashington
NHS Employment
Context

The question addresses the under-investment in the NHS during the pandemic, leading to shortages of essential supplies. The MP seeks assurances that such a situation will not recur.

Question

Some people have very short memories, I must say. The UK was found desperately wanting when this horrid covid-19 pandemic swept through the cities, towns and villages of this country. The nation's silverware was sold off and the stock cupboards laid bare. There was a deliberate policy of under-investment in the NHS, with a view to buying everything on the cheap from elsewhere. This was an ideological crime. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that we are never again left without the capacity to produce essential health and safety equipment, and how might a real industrial strategy aid the need to produce personal protective equipment, to bring good, well-paid jobs to long held back communities like Wansbeck here in the north-east?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

There might be a meeting of minds between the hon. Gentleman and me. Over the last year, we have developed the capacity to produce 70% of the country's PPE needs here in the UK. We set that target last summer. We met it at Christmas for all different types of PPE, with the exception of gloves, but we keep working on bringing glove manufacturing onshore.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about an industrial strategy to produce PPE was not directly addressed.

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