Technical Textiles

Judy Mallaber
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many projects have been supported by her Department's Innovation Budget involving technical textiles; and what funding was provided in each case. [120095]

Ms Hewitt
My Department has supported 25 Technical Textile projects under the Innovation Budget with a total of £4,136,121 in financial support. The projects related to the application of technical textile technology and innovation in the following sectors: Construction and Geo-textiles3 projects with total of £391,981insupportElectronics and communications2 projects with total of £292,772 in supportMedicalI project with total of £155,400 in supportPersonal Protection3 projects with total of £441,982 in supportSport and Leisure3 projects with total of £881,175 in supportTransportation and defence equipment3 projects with total of £346,386 in supportMulti-sectoral10 projects with applications in more than one sector with total of £1,636,425 in support.In addition my Department has provided £1.2 million support to the TechniTex Faraday partnership. The project will run for five years with a total fund of £10.6 million for technical textiles collaborative research.Regional Development Agencies have also provided financial support to this technologically innovative and dynamic sector.