Kemi Badenoch (Conservative)

The new gigafactory will create up to 4,000 highly skilled direct jobs and thousands of further jobs in the wider supply chain for battery materials and critical raw minerals, helping to grow the economy and moving the UK forward in the race to net zero.

The Government have engaged closely with Tata to demonstrate our commitment and support for this investment. The decision to build in the UK is a testament to this strong relationship and the new gigafactory secures a great future for our automotive sector, while supporting Tata’s ambitions to be a leader in zero emission vehicles.

The automotive industry is a vital part of the UK economy, and it is integral to delivering on levelling up, net zero and helping to drive economic growth. The Government are committed to making the UK one of the best places in the world for automotive investment, evidenced by the automotive transformation fund, the British industry supercharger scheme and our strong programme of support for research and development.

We are working alongside industry to unlock private investment in our EV supply chain and have long-standing and comprehensive programmes of support for the automotive sector including the automotive transformation fund, the Advanced Propulsion Centre and the Faraday battery challenge. The automotive transformation fund was instrumental in securing this investment and supports the development of a high-value end-to-end electrified automotive supply chain and is enabling a UK-made transition to net zero.

The UK has a proud automotive heritage. Today’s investment is a major vote of confidence in its bright future too. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the automotive sector to ensure that we take the necessary steps to put the UK at the forefront in the transition to zero emission vehicles.

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