Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the funding made available to underwrite successful bids by UK organisations to (a) Horizon 2020 and (b) other competitive EU grant programmes is planned to be redistributed from existing UK research budgets in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The HMG guarantee covers successful competitive bids made before the UK leaves the EU, for the lifetime of the project. This guarantee was extended in July 2018 to cover all EU projects agreed before the end of 2020, where the UK will be eligible to participate as a third country. If the UK leaves the EU next year without reaching an overall withdrawal agreement, HM Treasury will make funding available to departments to cover projects under the guarantee, which includes Horizon 2020. This funding will be additional to existing departmental budgets. Relevant departments will then be responsible for allocating this funding to UK organisations.