Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned £20.4 billion of research and development spending on (a) economic growth, (b) the national investment rate and (c) crowding in of private investment.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Autumn Budget 2024, the government protected R&D by allocating £20.4bn to support its missions, including the growth mission. Recent Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published research has found an average rate of return to public R&D of 40% after 6 years from when the investment is made [1]. The government’s investment will also boost business investment in R&D. Although estimates of the impact on private investment vary, on average £1 of public R&D investment leverages around £2 of private R&D investment in the long run [2]. The Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for modelling the impact of government policy on the economy.
[1] Returns to Public Research and Development - GOV.UK
[2] Research and development: relationship between public and private funding - GOV.UK
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with refence to section 1.3 2. of his policy paper entitled The Atlantic Declaration, updated on 21 June 2023, what progress he has made on establishing an outbound investment mechanism.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is keeping the potential national security risk posed by outward direct investment in sensitive sectors under review, and continuing to engage with businesses and financial stakeholders on this issue. In May, the Cabinet Office issued public guidance on how the existing National Security and Investment Act powers allow the Government to intervene in certain outward direct investment transactions.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference paragraph 4.51 of the Autumn Budget 2024, what his Department's priorities are for the planned £20 billion spending with UK industry in 2025-26.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Funding for the Ministry of Defence for financial year 2025-26 has not yet been allocated to specific programmes or activities. The Department is still in the process of setting budgets internally.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much private investment he expects from the additional funding allocated to the automotive sector in the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Budget committed over £2bn to 2030 for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains. This funding will build on previous ATF and APC programmes which have leveraged over £6bn of investment from the private sector so far. We will continue with this success, unlocking billions more in private investment to support our automotive industry. Further details will be announced as part of the industrial strategy.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the written statement of 18 April 2024 on Economic Security, HCWS415, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of targeted exemptions from the mandatory notification requirements of the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act has an important role to play in ensuring businesses in the UK can thrive and access vital investment without compromising our national security. We are therefore considering the responses to the previous Government’s Call for Evidence and reflecting on our own experiences of making decisions in the NSI system over the past six months.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plan to take to ensure value for money from the £3.9 billion of funding allocated for carbon capture and storage and green hydrogen in 2025-26.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A formal part of the policy design and delivery process involves reviewing prior relevant efforts to ensure government is maximising value for money wherever possible. Our value for money judgement is evidenced by appraisal and analysis developed in line with the HMT Green Book and has supported policy development at each stage of the CCUS programme and the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). All future carbon capture build out projects and subsequent HARs will require approved business cases, which will contain robust value for money assessments. The business models supporting both CCUS and electrolytic ‘green’ hydrogen are designed to address the risks that currently are a barrier to first of a kind projects, incentivise project behaviour in line with government objectives and deliver value for money for consumers and taxpayers.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of private investment that will be raised for carbon capture and storage and hydrogen projects by the £3.9 billion of public funding announced in paragraph 3.52 of the Autumn Budget 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 4th October, the government reached commercial agreement with the private sector and announced up to £21.7bn of available funding over 25 years to launch the UK’s new carbon capture, usage and storage industry. We expect this funding to crowd in £8bn in private sector investment for the 25 years, and demonstrating the investability of CCUS will unlock a further pipeline of billions of pounds in private sector investment. It is estimated that industry has spent £1 billion in investment already. The government also announced over £2bn of funding over 15 years for the projects in the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). These projects will invest over £400m of private capital during construction across the UK.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of defence spending on (a) economic growth and (b) regional growth in each of the next five years.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is bringing forward a Defence Industrial Strategy that aligns our security and economic priorities. The strategic aim of the Defence Industrial Strategy is to make sure the imperatives of national security and a high-growth economy are addressed.
Defence has a key role to play in delivering the Government's Growth Mission, by setting the conditions necessary for economic growth and by growing a better, more integrated, more innovative, and more resilient defence sector. An important part of this work is understanding and developing the impact defence spending has on the nations and regions of the UK.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11837 on Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review, what plans he has to (a) engage and (b) inform Parliament on each review.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In relation to my answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11837, decisions about parliamentary engagement are matters for the relevant department owners of each review.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster committed to a review of UK national resilience in his statement to the House of Commons on 19 July, in response to the Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report. The review is expected to conclude in Spring 2025 and includes a broad programme of engagement, including Parliamentary, to ensure the UK Government’s approach to resilience best helps mitigate the challenges we face. The review will also consider the future approach to reporting on and scrutiny of UK national resilience.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to maximise the value for money from public funding for the steel industry over the next five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is developing a steel strategy, in partnership with the steel sector and trade unions, that will set out a long-term vision for steel and create opportunities for public and private investment.
We have committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks. When designing how best to invest this money, we will consider a range of factors, including leveraging private sector investment and making the UK a great place to invest.