Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the £1.3 billion in co-investment reported by UK Research and Innovation in the report Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, published on 24 July 2024, was independently verified after project award.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UKRI verifies co-investment commitments at several stages of the grant lifecycle. Verification processes are managed according to the terms and conditions of specific grant awards and vary depending on the size of the awards. For large co-investment commitments, UKRI engages third parties to conduct verification.
At the application stage, UKRI portfolio managers verify co-investment commitments as part of usual due diligence checks, with host research organisation also undertaking due diligence to confirm that information included in applications is accurate. For completed awards, grant holders are able to report actual co-investment values via the research outcomes process.
The co-investment figure of £1.3 billion provided in the 2023-24 UKRI Annual Report and Accounts reflects project partner contributions declared at the point of application.
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current outstanding balance of the innovation loans portfolio managed by UK Research and Innovation; and what proportion of that balance is classified as non-performing.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since April 2018, £267.7m commitments have been made across 304 loans (including those approved and currently in execution). £221.2m in commitments are currently live across 248 loans, of which £191.9m is drawn. Under the terms of the loans with Innovate UK repayment of all of the loans in the current portfolio is due by 2033, with over half by 2028.
31 loans have already repaid in full, recovering £18.4m in capital. 16 defaulted loans with a combined outstanding exposure of £12.7m have completed the administration / recovery process, with £400k recovered and the remainder written-off. These write-offs occurred over following financial years as follows:
Year | Number | Value of write-off |
2018-2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 1 | £1m |
2022 | 1 | £0.5m |
2023 | 2 | £2.4m |
2024 | 4 | £2.9m |
2025 | 8 | £5.5m |
A further 59 loans are currently in default against their obligations. 40 of these (£28.3m total commitment) are subject to recovery action through legal recourse and administration; 19 (£12.5m commitment) are subject to restructuring within Innovate UK Loans Limited with a view to securing a realistic plan for repayment over time.
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total value of innovation loans written off by UK Research and Innovation in each financial year since the scheme began in 2017.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since April 2018, £267.7m commitments have been made across 304 loans (including those approved and currently in execution). £221.2m in commitments are currently live across 248 loans, of which £191.9m is drawn. Under the terms of the loans with Innovate UK repayment of all of the loans in the current portfolio is due by 2033, with over half by 2028.
31 loans have already repaid in full, recovering £18.4m in capital. 16 defaulted loans with a combined outstanding exposure of £12.7m have completed the administration / recovery process, with £400k recovered and the remainder written-off. These write-offs occurred over following financial years as follows:
Year | Number | Value of write-off |
2018-2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 1 | £1m |
2022 | 1 | £0.5m |
2023 | 2 | £2.4m |
2024 | 4 | £2.9m |
2025 | 8 | £5.5m |
A further 59 loans are currently in default against their obligations. 40 of these (£28.3m total commitment) are subject to recovery action through legal recourse and administration; 19 (£12.5m commitment) are subject to restructuring within Innovate UK Loans Limited with a view to securing a realistic plan for repayment over time.
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total value of suspected grant fraud investigated by UK Research and Innovation in each of the past five financial years; and how much was (1) confirmed as fraud, (2) prevented, and (3) recovered, in each year.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UKRI makes consolidated data returns to the Public Sector Fraud Authority covering identified, recovered and prevented fraud. The data requested is in the table below.
For individual cases, investigation, recovery, and prevention activities can extend over multiple financial years. Therefore, care should be taken when comparing data points across the table below. The data provided for the last financial year (2024/25) is provisional, and final figures will be published in UKRI’s 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts.
| Value of suspected grant fraud investigated | Confirmed | Recovered | Prevented |
2020/21 | £12,761,945.94 | £1,410,994.14 | £149,716.01 | £4,893,567.13 |
2021/22 | £7,285,776.67 | £3,559,382.41 | £1,044,626.51 | £1,152,805.96 |
2022/23 | £40,418,305.58 | £2,043,255.85 | £1,933,718.99 | £780,427.38 |
2023/24 | £1,930,369.00 | £5,454,586.74 | £1,395,426.05 | £13,536,403.29 |
2024/25 | £6,748,311.14 | £3,345,159.81 | £4,193,153.36 | £22,243.50 |
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK Research and Innovation grant fraud cases have been referred to the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, or other authorities in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UKRI employs a team of trained counter fraud investigators working alongside an external service provider. Where appropriate, UKRI will hand over internal investigations to relevant authorities where criminal justice powers are required.
The table below sets out the total number of cases referred to the police and other authorities for financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25.
Financial Year | Total | Referred to Police | Referred to Insolvency Service | Referred to National Crime Agency |
2020-21 | 3 | 3 |
|
|
2021-22 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
|
2022-23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
2023-24 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
|
2024-25 | 3 | 3 |
|
|
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the estimated financial loss due to fraud and error across UK Research and Innovation’s grant portfolio in each year since 2018; and what percentage of that was successfully recovered.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UKRI records confirmed cases of fraud and error; however, it has not historically produced estimates of fraud and error losses. The National Audit Office published good practice guidance in February 2025 on estimating and reporting fraud and error, and UKRI is drawing on this guidance to produce an estimate for 2024/25 that will be published in UKRI’s Annual Report and Accounts.
I refer the noble Lord to my answer to question HL7598 for data on UKRI fraud recovery.
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to page 20 of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, whether the decision to increase expenditure by £181 million through reprofiling quality-related funding complied with the departmental expenditure limit control rules and ringfence restrictions in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance 2023–24; and if not, whether Treasury consent was obtained in line with paragraph 2.52 of that guidance.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The reprofiling of quality-related funding payments to higher education institutions in 2023-24 complied fully with DSIT’s departmental expenditure limit control rules and Consolidated Budgeting Guidance. No payments in advance of need were made and spending across the DSIT portfolio remained within departmental control totals despite the reprofile, which is designed to ensure effective utilisation of R&D budgets within and across financial years.