Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2021 to Question 157102 on Advanced Research and Invention Agency: Expenditure, when year on year funding allocations for the new Advanced Research and Innovation Agency will be announced; and whether work is taking place on (a) the design of and (b) recruitment to the Agency in the absence of those funding allocations.

In the single year Spending Review covering financial year 2021-2022, the Government committed to provide the first £50 million in funding for ARIA related activities, and a total £800 million investment by 2024-25.

The precise year-on-year allocations for ARIA after 2021-22 will be determined for, and announced in, forthcoming Spending Reviews.

BEIS officials have been working on the high-level design features of ARIA to support delivery of the ARIA Bill, and delivery of a forthcoming framework agreement between ARIA and BEIS. This said, it is by design that certain operational details are left at the discretion of the independent body.