§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the use made by the United Kingdom aerospace industry238W of outsourcing to non-EU based companies and locations of items previously manufactured in the United Kingdom. [126833]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonI have not made any specific assessment of changes in the sourcing of aerospace items. However my Department is working closely with the Society of British Aerospace Companies on competitiveness improvement programmes for the aerospace industry. DTI funding for this work is helping to improve productivity and other aspects of competitiveness of UK suppliers which should ensure that the outsourcing of aerospace items is kept to a minimum.