£120m for pottery firms a "good start" but more must follow says Stoke MP
Gareth Snell stresses the importance of ongoing long-term funding for the ceramics sector
Though the government’s new £120 million funding announcement for the UK's ceramics industry has been welcomed, Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, insists that more support is essential to ensure the sector prospers in the long term.
"The money is obviously incredibly welcome to help with meeting some of the immediate energy costs and also funding some of the decarbonisation investment that all of the companies want to do," Snell said.
"But long term, there's still more work to do."
Emphasising the need for broader initiatives, Snell said, "it's important we're promoting a buying British campaign - and that we're looking at what we do with those sectors that can't decarbonise as quickly".
The £120 million package includes funds for capital investment in energy-efficient equipment and relief for operational costs.
However, Snell warns that this alone cannot fully resolve things.
"No one is under the illusion that this is all the help we need as a sector," said Snell.
He told our Chief Reporter that he's committed to working with government officials and local companies to secure ongoing support, arguing that the ceramics sector is "vital" for UK growth, jobs, and exports.
"The work that we turn as MPs, working with the local companies and with the unions, has paid a dividend, and that dividend is coming in hard cash," Snell stated.
"We've already got conversations lined up with the relevant departments about the other issues affecting the ceramic sector, so the cheap Chinese imports that are coming that we need to make sure we're protecting our sector against. We know there's issues around fraudulent activity fakes where companies overseas mimic ware and then they sell it. We know there are issues around the back stamp and protecting the Made in Britain logo, and that's something I'm going to be doing more on later in the year.
"So we know there are other things we have to do, but what this money does, it just gives the breathing room to allow us to take stock, move forward, knowing we can protect the industry now, so that the next step".
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