DURHAM'S Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods has been promoted to the shadow cabinet, it has been revealed.

Dr Blackman-Woods has been appointed as a Shadow Minister for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

She will be concentrating on support for industrial and economic growth in the regions in her new role.

Dr Blackman-Woods said: "The work of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will be incredibly important as the economy hopefully continues its fragile recovery.

"I will be shadowing the work of the department, along with the shadow ministerial team led by Pat McFadden MP, in particular on economic and industrial growth in the regions."

She added: "I am concerned that the Government's attitude towards the work of the Regional Development Agencies, such as One North East in my own area, is wrong.

"While I am sure there is room for reform and change in the RDAs' work, they do an incredibly important job encouraging investment, supporting jobs and delivering growth.

"The Government's negative attitude towards the RDAs could be extremely damaging to our fragile recovery."

Dr Blackman-Woods said the support the previous Labour Government had given to business was "extremely important and was one of the reasons the recession was not as long or deep as it might have been".

But, she added, businesses still needed help to grow which is why Labour opposed cutting that support now.

She said: "I am looking forward to my new role as a shadow BIS Minister and will do my best to hold the Government to account and offer a sound, sensible and fairer Labour alternative."