PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Salisbury (12 February 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the criteria were for the Government decision to allocate the city of Salisbury a ministerial champion in his Department.

Asked by:
Alison McGovern (Labour)

The unprecedented nerve agent attack in Salisbury and subsequent incident in Amesbury was an act of aggression on UK soil, with the hazardous agent involved resulting in the contamination of multiple sites across Salisbury and Amesbury and the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess.

The attack has resulted in an estimated loss of over 1 million visits to Salisbury which is a key tourist attraction in the region, and a potential loss to the local economy of £56 million. With the imminent completion of decontamination activity, the Department has agreed with Defra, Cabinet Office and other key partners that the focus should now move towards building confidence and long-term economic recovery.

In recognition of these unprecedented events, my noble Friend the rt. hon. the Lord Henley in his role as Local Growth Champion for Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which includes the boundaries of Salisbury and Amesbury has agreed to act as the ongoing single Ministerial point of contact within Government for the leaders of Wilshire Council so that they may continue to raise any legacy issues arising at a political level.

Answered by:
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative)
19 February 2019