§ Mr. Geoffrey Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support he will give to proposals for a national centre for advanced manufacturing technology.
§ Mr. ButcherIn its response to the ACARD report "New Opportunities in Manufacturing", the Government accepted that advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) activity should be concentrated in a limited number of centres. These should emerge rather than be created, and strong industrial commitment is essential. The Government will encourage the development of such centres, which would have priority for funding through normal channels. In the west midlands, Warwick university is emerging as such a centre and DTI officials are discussing ways of working with it to promote the application of AMT in the west midlands along the Telford to Rugby axis.