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UK Aerospace Industry

3. Mr. David S. Borrow (South Ribble) (Lab): What action his Department is taking to improve the international competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry. [43227]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Barry Gardiner): In 2003, the aerospace innovation and growth team report set out the Government's vision for the UK aerospace industry. We aim to improve all aspects of the industry's productivity and competitiveness. We have drawn up and are implementing the national aerospace technology strategy; we have set up the national composites network and supported it with investment of £30 million; and we are developing the sustainable aviation strategy.

Mr. Borrow: Does my hon. Friend agree that the British aerospace industry would be even better and more competitive if agreement could be reached to get rid of unfair subsidies and trade barriers? Will he tell me what his Department is doing to achieve that objective?

Barry Gardiner: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's tremendous work as chair of the all-party group on aerospace. He has highlighted a major issue for the industry. He knows that the UK is regarded as one of the most open markets in the world when it comes to aerospace and particularly aerospace defence equipment, and European and international defence markets must open up so that our world-class defence manufacturers can compete overseas on a level playing field. I welcome the announcement of the European Defence Agency's voluntary code of conduct, which is aimed at making procurement across member states
 
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more transparent and open. The DTI will continue to work with the MOD to open up overseas markets for UK suppliers.

Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire) (Con): Does the Minister share my growing suspicion that the interests of this large, complex and vital manufacturing industry would be better served if more of them were looked after at a national level rather than being fragmented into the regional development agency network?

Barry Gardiner: No; I do not share that suspicion. The regional development agencies have a key development role working with regional suppliers, which is happening not only in the north-west, where my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr Borrow) has an interest, but in Yeovil and other parts of the country.

Dr. Ashok Kumar (Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland) (Lab): I agree with my hon. Friend that, thanks to the skills that we have, our aerospace industry is one of the most successful industries in the world. What is he doing to ensure that we maintain those skills in future by attracting the brightest engineers and scientists? What discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in that regard?

Barry Gardiner: My hon. Friend raises some interesting points. The thrust of this is the way in which we develop this industry and remain at the cutting edge. He should take heart from the fact that we have been so innovative in setting up the composites network, with £30 million of Government investment and research and development going in, matched by the industry. We are working together to ensure that the very best scientists are attracted into this area—an area where their future lies, because the future of the whole aviation and defence industry lies there as well.

Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield) (Con): BAE Systems is a very important employer on the periphery of my constituency—it has a plant at Woodford. We also have part of the supply chain in Poynton—Senior Engineering, which produces lightweight ducting and air conditioning equipment for the industry. Its future is in jeopardy because of what I, and many in the industry, describe as excessive air pollution regulation. Is the Minister prepared to meet me with a representative of the company to discuss the problems that it faces and the fact that it is in jeopardy as a result of these excessive and unnecessary regulations?

Barry Gardiner: I would of course be very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, who has a fine record as a constituency MP and somebody of great knowledge in this area. It is important that we continue our work with the Department for Transport in looking at sustainable aviation into the future. That is part of the environmental commitment that Labour Members share; I understand that the Conservatives are now joining us. It is important that we look to a sustainable future for aviation, and environmental standards must be at the forefront of that. I will happily meet the hon. Gentleman and any delegation that he wishes to bring.
 
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Regional Development Agencies

4. Dr. John Pugh (Southport) (LD): Whether there is a code of conduct for members of regional development agencies. [43228]

The Minister for Industry and the Regions (Alun Michael): Yes, indeed. Each of England's regional development agencies has in place a code of conduct for its staff and board members.

Dr. Pugh: I thank the Minister for that brief response. Given that MPs and councillors are governed by very strict rules, that huge sums of public money are spent by RDAs, and that agency members often belong to organisations that benefit from RDA money, does he agree that transparency is important; and if so, why are not all project-specific details of their spending plans put into the public domain?

Alun Michael: I am not sure what particular issue the hon. Gentleman is getting at. As I said, there are detailed codes of conduct that exclude individuals from applications or issues that affect their interests. They follow the guidance of the Cabinet Office and are taken very seriously by board members, as I know from many discussions. The general point of my answer is that there are very strict codes in each of the RDAs, but if the hon. Gentleman has anything more specific in mind, perhaps he would like to raise it with me,

Rob Marris (Wolverhampton, South-West) (Lab): Part of the reason for having a code of conduct is to ensure that members of RDAs act with propriety. If we go for a deduction-at-source approach, what are the Government doing to ensure that people who are appointed to RDAs know what they are doing and act with transparency and propriety?

Alun Michael: The method of appointing members of RDA boards means that, in accordance with best practice, their capacity to provide leadership to the organisation is scrutinised very carefully to ensure that they can bring to bear their experience not only in business but in local government and social enterprise in order to provide inspiration, leadership and challenge to the employees of the organisation. We are bringing in an independent performance assessment that, from this year, will examine the quality of the organisations in delivering on the very ambitious objectives that we have set for them.

Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): Will the Minister strengthen the code of conduct in two ways? First, will he control unnecessary expenditure to stop RDAs wasting money and going to the glossy brochure industry too often? Secondly, will he stop them misrepresenting the views of local communities that do not want their attentions and whose views are much better represented by Members of Parliament and councillors? So often, RDAs say the opposite and they are wrong. Will the right hon. Gentleman strengthen the code of conduct?

Alun Michael: If the code of conduct needed to be strengthened, we would be happy to consider that, but with the right hon. Gentleman's past of sending back
 
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money that would have benefited communities and the economy in Wales, it ill behoves him to examine the performance of regional development agencies. We have encouraged RDAs to work as a team and they have done some good work, not duplicating each other, to address rural development and many other issues together. The right hon. Gentleman's criticism is overdone.

Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op): Will my right hon. Friend take some of the negative comments that we have heard with a large measure of salt? Does he acknowledge that most of the people who devote themselves to RDAs have done a good job over the years? I find Yorkshire Forward to be a leading and thrusting organisation in our region. Transparency is always appropriate and useful and I should like more transparency and in that regard, RDAs perform better than others. However, by and large, the men and women who put such effort into RDAs should be complimented, not criticised.

Alun Michael: The independent performance assessment, which starts this year, will provide the sort of comparison that my hon. Friend seeks, not least because it will encourage learning from each other—peer review—as an important part of the process. I have   been impressed by some of Yorkshire Forward's work. I was recently in Sheffield to look at some of the high technology manufacturing examples. That was extremely impressive and relevant to some of the issues that have been raised about the need to equip our industries to compete in the world.

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