Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Fleur Anderson and Chris Murray(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Fleur Anderson)
Happy Lancashire Day to you as well, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State and I were deeply saddened by the recent passing of former UTV political editor Ken Reid, who was a close follower of Northern Ireland oral questions. Our thoughts are with his family and his many peers across journalism.
I recently attended the launch of Invest NI’s business innovation grant, which received £440,000 of UK Government funding. This will complement the Government’s work to target high-growth sectors in Northern Ireland, including the digital and technologies sector, through our industrial strategy.
Chris Murray
My constituency in Edinburgh has two universities, both of which do excellent work with our counterparts in Northern Ireland. Can the Minister tell us how the Government are working with universities to support innovation in Northern Ireland?
Fleur Anderson
It is fantastic to hear of those close links, which are so important for innovation and business growth, in combination with the university sector. Northern Ireland’s universities are key partners in boosting innovation and growth; for example, through the UK Government’s new deal for Northern Ireland, £11 million of funding is helping Queen’s University Belfast’s centre for secure information technologies to deliver a cyber-artificial intelligence hub—a leading cyber-security research centre. This investment is unlocking a further £4.5 million of investment from the private sector.