Chi meets Business and Defence Ministers over BAE Scotswood
Chi Onwurah MP for Newcastle Central yesterday day met Business and Defence Ministers to discuss the future of the BAE site at Scotswood.
Chi said:
“ I was pleased that both Ministers agreed to meet me over this very historic site and the need to retain and improve engineering skills and manufacturing capacity in and around Newcastle.
Ms Onwurah added:
“ Defence Minister Philip Dunn gave re-assures that BAE would be able to bid for future MoD contracts which could secure some of these high skilled engineering jobs on Tyneside.
“ Business Minister Michael Fallon promised to look closely at any proposal by the Local Enterprise Partnership and the City Council to extend the enterprise zone to cover the BAE Scotswood site.
“ This would certainly help companies interested in the site to retain manufacturer and engineering work at Scotswood.
She also obtained a commitment from the business minister that he would look into re-training for employees on the site and would write to her with details of what could be made available.
The Minister also promised to visit Tyneside to meet with local businesses in the near future
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