Investment: Newcastle Upon Tyne East and Wallsend

7. What steps she is taking to encourage investment in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.

This is an important question when, shockingly, household incomes in the north-east hardly grew over the long 14 years of the previous Conservative Government. We need to raise public and private investment, which is why we are working with the north-east combined authority on its local growth plan. The Office for Investment is working particularly closely with the north-east, alongside Liverpool, on developing local growth opportunities.

With the town’s access to the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, a cluster of advanced manufacturing firms and an expanding energy skills academy, more of Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend’s potential is yet to be tapped. What discussions is the Minister having with the Energy Secretary to ensure that the investment is there and that green supply chains are anchored in places such as Tyneside?

I have spent far too much of my life talking to the now Energy Secretary, but my hon. Friend is right to highlight the potential of green energy supply chains in her constituency and across the north-east. This is a Government committed to securing economic gains alongside energy security from the energy transition —in stark contrast to the previous Government, who thought the net zero transition was something on which to create dividing lines, not jobs.