Manufacturing Industry (Hansard, 31 October 1990)

§ 37. Mr. Bradley
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet the president of the Confederation of Business Industry to discuss manufacturing industry.

§ 49. Mr. Knox
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss manufacturing industry.

§ 59. Mr. Anthony Coombs
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the Confederation of British Industry to discuss levels of investment in manufacturing industry.

§ 97. Mr. Radice
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss manufacturing industry.

§ Mr. Lilley
Ministers and officials of my Department keep in touch with the CBI on a wide range of business matters.

§ 50. Mr. Ernie Ross
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on the competitiveness of British manufacturing industry.

§ 84. Mr. Patchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on the competitiveness of British manufacturing industry.

§ 142. Mr. Fisher
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on the competitiveness of British manufacturing industry.

§ Mr. Redwood
My Department continues to receive a number of representations concerning the performance of manufacturing industry. Important to the competitiveness of our manufacturing industry is control of unit costs and continued emphasis on the attractiveness of products to customers.

§ 60. Mr. Allen McKay
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to boost manufacturing output.

§ 101. Mr. Rowlands
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to boost manufacturing output.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The most important spur to the significant output growth by British manufacturing industry since 1989 has come from the competitive pressures of more open markets. Government continue to promote this objective with policies such as privatisation, deregulation, elimination of restrictive practices and international negotiations to reduce trade barriers through the GATT and in the European Community. In addition, my Department continues to operate a range of schemes to improve business performance under the enterprise initiative.
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§ 110. Mr. Cousins
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to protect and promote a high level of research and development in British manufacturing industry.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The Government continue to promote and protect investment in research and development by creating a favourable climate for innovation through a wide range of policies. Industry's own funding of research and development increased by 50 per cent. in real terms between 1983 and 1988. The Department of Trade and Industry provides direct research and development support to industry through a variety of schemes, including collaborative research and development and technology transfer programmes. In 1989–90 the Department of Trade and Industry's estimated expenditure on research and development was £305 million with a further £96 million on technology transfer and related activities.

§ 112. Mr. Ingram
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has recently received about manufacturing output.

§ 121. Mr. McWilliam
To ask the Secretary of Trade and Industry what representations he has recently received about manufacturing output.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
My Department continues to receive a number of representations concerning the performance of manufacturing industry.