Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Letter from the Secretary of State relating to an announcement on the Government's Industrial Strategy, 8 April 2026
From: Business and Trade Committee
Inquiry: Industrial Strategy
Summary
Secretary of State Peter Kyle notifies the Business and Trade Committee in advance of a 9 April 2026 announcement on the Government's Modern Industrial Strategy. The announcement centres on a £380 million grant to support Agratas' battery factory in Somerset, expected to create 8,200 jobs, alongside broader measures totalling over £900 million for advanced manufacturing, battery innovation, digital adoption, autonomous mobility, and engineering skills development.
Key findings
- £380m DRIVE35 grant to Agratas for a £5.2bn Somerset battery factory, creating up to 4,200 direct jobs and 4,000 supply chain jobs, anchoring JLR's electric vehicle production in the UK
- £100m DRIVE35 funding for automotive suppliers in West Midlands and North-East to retool for EV manufacturing, plus £90m for R&D competition awards
- Battery Innovation Programme including £22m (industry-matched) for UK-led R&D and £25m new competition round for breakthrough cell materials and solid-state batteries
- £99m Made Smarter Adoption programme and £16.44m Innovation programme to accelerate industrial digital technologies for manufacturing SMEs
- £182m engineering skills package including £47m Adult Skills Funding, £8m clean energy engineering courses, and new battery manufacturing apprenticeship unit, plus £1.4m CAM Pathfinder grants for autonomous mobility feasibility studies
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Peter Kyle, Liam Byrne, Agratas, Jaguar Land Rover, British Business Bank, UK Export Finance, Clare Barclay
Notable line
“£380 million grant from our 'DRIVE35' programme to support the delivery by Agratas of what will be one of Europe's largest battery factories.”
Key Quotes
“At the heart of this announcement package is a £380 million grant from our 'DRIVE35' programme to support the delivery by Agratas of what will be one of Europe's largest battery factories.”
“This will strengthen the UK's battery manufacturing capability and supporting the UK automotive sector's transition to electrification.”
“Good jobs and skills needed to sustain them are at the very heart of this package.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗