Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is providing support to the British Antarctic Survey; and if she will make a statement.

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation, which is an arm’s-length body of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Each year NERC invests around £38 million in BAS to deliver and enable world-leading interdisciplinary research in the polar regions. The UK invested a further £670m for modernising its Antarctica and Arctic research facilities to ensure that the UK stays at the forefront of international polar research.