Square Kilometre Array Observatory (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2020

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Monday 14th September 2020 Grand Committee

Moved by

[Lord Callanan]

That the Grand Committee do consider the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2020.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Callanan) (Con)]

My Lords, the draft order was laid before the House on 14 July 2020 under the affirmative procedure. It confers immunities, privileges, reliefs and exemptions on this new intergovernmental organisation, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, or SKAO, under the International Organisations Act 1968. If Parliament agrees, it would complete the UK’s ratification of the convention which was signed in March 2019 and laid in Parliament in July of that year under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Before I go into the detail of the order, I want to set the subject in context by saying a few words about the Square Kilometre Array project that the SKAO is being established to deliver and operate. The Square Kilometre Array, or SKA, is an international mega-science project to build the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. It is a truly global effort involving 11 member countries and participation of around 100 organisations across a total of 20 countries. The SKA is one of the most ambitious international science projects of the 21st century.

Co-located in South Africa and Western Australia, the SKA will use hundreds of dishes and thousands of antennas connected by optical fibre to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail. Many times faster and significantly more sensitive than any current radio telescope, and of a scale never seen before, it will enable scientists to test some of the key questions in physics and about the nature of the universe. For example, was Einstein right about gravity? What is dark energy and why is it so important in our universe? And where did magnetism come from?

The SKA will deliver significant technological advances in data processing and opportunities for business innovation. It will help to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The SKAO will be the intergovernmental organisation building and managing the SKA. Based in the UK at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, it will manage the construction, operation and data processing of the telescopes. The SKA is a flagship project for the UK Government and underlines our commitment to worldwide partnerships as part of our modern industrial strategy ambition to make sure that the UK remains a global leader in science, research and innovation.

The UK Government have already committed £100 million to the construction of the SKA—we are one of the largest contributors—and a further £85 million for running costs over a 10-year period to 2026-27. This investment gives the UK a leading role in the project during the construction and operation phases. The investment and the UK’s hosting of this new intergovernmental organisation at its Jodrell Bank HQ are a demonstration of our world-leading position and influence in radio astronomy and wider scientific collaboration and exploration.

Let me now turn to the details of the order. As I have mentioned, the convention was formally laid in Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 in July last year and was completed in October. The order is part of the UK’s ratification and provides the privileges and immunities to enable the SKAO to function as an intergovernmental organisation in the United Kingdom. It is standard practice for intergovernmental organisations and their staff to be accorded privileges and immunities by the member states.

I reassure noble Lords that the privileges and immunities afforded to officers of the SKAO in the UK are limited to those required for them to conduct their official activities and are not for their personal benefit. They are in line with those offered to officers of other intergovernmental organisations of which the UK is a member. These include limited immunity from jurisdiction and inviolability for its officers and employees, including immunity from legal process in respect of their official acts, and tax exemption. They do not include immunity from UK road traffic law. The SKAO convention also requires that the SKAO has legal capacity so that it can enter into contracts and take such other action as may be necessary or useful for its purposes and activities.

The order applies to the whole of the UK. However, some provisions of the instrument do not extend to, or apply in, Scotland. A separate Scottish Order in Council has been prepared to deal with these provisions within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. This was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 10 August.

The order confers on the new SKAO and its staff only those privileges and immunities necessary for the organisation to function effectively and conduct its official activities. The order will enable the UK to complete its ratification of the SKAO convention and make the global SKA project a reality. Completing ratification of the SKAO convention will bring us closer to answering some of the most important questions in advancing our understanding of the universe.

The SKA will provide huge opportunities for technological advances and innovation, notably in the field of big data processing and in areas where UK industry and the research establishment are well poised to benefit. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

First, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this brief debate. I was particularly grateful for the support of the noble Lord, Lord Rees of Ludlow, who is a renowned expert, as the noble Lord, Lord Fox, said, in this subject. I understand that this is the noble Lord’s 25th anniversary as the Astronomer Royal, and I am sure that the whole Committee will want to offer him our warmest congratulations.

This order and the separate Scottish order are the final legislative steps necessary for the UK to ratify the SKAO convention. Once approved by both Parliaments and the Privy Council, we can ratify the convention. This order confers privileges and immunities on the Square Kilometre Array Observatory only as far as is necessary for it to function as an intergovernmental organisation in the United Kingdom. As required by the SKAO convention, the order also confers legal capacity on the organisation so that it can enter into contracts and take such other action as may be necessary or useful for its purpose and activities. The privileges and immunities of the SKAO will be equivalent to those of other intergovernmental organisations, such as the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva and the European Southern Observatory. Indeed, the legal status and structure of CERN was used as a model for SKAO.

Turning now to the specific points raised in the debate, as I said earlier, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Rees, in particular, for his support and for giving us his insight into the SKA project, outlining the many scientific opportunities it will lead to. In particular the noble Lord mentioned the European Southern Observatory, which is an important international facility of which the UK has been the leading member since 2002 and which has substantially supported our astronomical leadership. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for his support for the SKA project. I reassure him that BEIS, despite the expertise of its excellent officials, is not being let loose on the subject of dark energy. We are very content to leave that to the astronomers and the experts of the SKA.

The noble Lord asked about ratification. We expect Australia to ratify this year. I can confirm that the expenditure we have committed is for phase 1 of the project. I agree that the SKA should be spoken of with high regard as a great opportunity for the UK and that we should take it as an opportunity to promote our scientific leadership. This order enables non-UK national members of staff, including scientists, to work in the UK, and we expect there to be more than 50 non-UK national members of staff initially, rising to more than 100 later.

The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, asked about the second phase of the project. The project is scalable and we will build on phase 1. Clearly the funding agreement for that is some way off, but successful completion of phase 1 will form a solid basis for it. This is a very narrow piece of legislation focused on the privileges and immunities of the SKAO and is not related to our commitment to the European Space Agency.

I shall give noble Lords a bit more detail on the finances. In March 2014, the UK Government committed to investing £100 million in the construction of the SKA, which was around 16% of the total construction cost. This was agreed as part of the process of bringing the headquarters to the United Kingdom. A new £16.5 million building has been constructed at Jodrell Bank to house the SKA HQ, with funding from BEIS of £9.8 million, the Science and Technological Facilities Council, the University of Manchester, which committed £5.7 million, and Cheshire East Council, which contributed £1 million. As shown by the widespread support for this project, it is enormously exciting for the UK, and our astronomy community will be a key partner in this global project.

We remain committed to strengthening our position as a world leader in astronomy and space exploration. The order takes us one step closer to bringing the SKAO into operation. As one of the host countries, this Government remain committed to bringing it into being as soon as possible. It will become fully operational when the convention enters into force. As one of the host countries, it is important that the United Kingdom ratifies at the earliest opportunity so that the start of construction of the telescope in 2021 is not delayed. The convention will come into force 30 days after all three host countries—the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia—plus two further members have ratified it. We expect this to occur by November 2020. This will retain international member confidence in the project and encourage other countries to join. UK scientists and engineers have been involved in the SKA from the project’s inception in the early 1990s.

By hosting this intergovernmental organisation in the UK, we will continue to play a leading role in bringing this project to fruition and guiding it through the construction and operation phases. The UK’s participation reinforces our position in international astronomy and maintains and strengthens relationships with researchers across the globe. I commend this order to the Committee.

Motion agreed.