Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Laura Sandys (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 2 February 2011 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: I thank the Prime Minister and the Ministers who have been so helpful over the past 24 hours with regard to the Pfizer closure in my constituency in Sandwich. Will my right hon. Friend assure me and my hon. Friends from east Kent that the Government will do everything they can to secure the site, the highly skilled employees and the local economy in east Kent?

Answer: My hon. Friend is right to speak out about that depressing news. Pfizer's decision is bad news. My office has been in contact with the company and I spoke to the company again this morning. There is no doubt that the decision is being taken not because of some UK-based issue, but because the company has decided to exit some whole areas of endeavour, such as allergies and respiratory diseases. The company is keeping all the options open for what should happen to the site, including getting partner organisations to continue work there and getting other companies to come in, because it is a state of the art site and it has brilliant employees doing great work there. The Government will do everything they can, co-ordinated by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Universities and Science and the head of the Office for Life Sciences, to try and make sure that we make the best of a depressing piece of news.

Secondary information