NEPIC GROWTH STRATEGY

That this House supports the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) in its effort to help the process industry to grow from £8.8 billion to £13.3 billion in the North East of England in the next 10 years; congratulates NEPIC and its industrialists for working together and formulating such a powerful argument for developing this sector; encourages the Department of Trade and Industry and One North East to ensure that they receive the resources to enable them to meet these targets; notes the concerns the 200 chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the North East have about the availability of skilled science and engineering staff in the future; and further notes the Cogent sector skills council assessment which shows that over 60,000 skilled people will be needed by the chemical sector alone.