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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government has taken to ensure the latest cohort of successful European Research Council Advanced Grant applicants are aware of the underwrite that exists should the UK leave the EU without a deal before the conditions of their grants have been finalised.

The Government underwrite guarantee will cover funding for all successful UK bids to Horizon 2020 that are submitted before exit, even if they are notified of success after exit. This includes the 47 successful UK bids to the ERC Advanced Grant 2018 call which form part of the €540m funding recently announced by the European Commission for cutting edge research.

The UKRI portal was announced in the Horizon 2020 Technical Notice and is part of our plans to underwrite funding for UK Horizon 2020 beneficiaries in the event of ‘no deal’. In this scenario, UK beneficiaries who have registered on the UKRI portal will receive detailed information about how the guarantee will be delivered and the next steps that they need to take.

Since the announcement of the underwrite guarantee in 2016, the Government has consistently reiterated our commitment to deliver it, should it be required. Methods used include Ministerial statements in Parliament, digital engagement by both BEIS and our delivery partner UKRI, and direct engagement with business and stakeholder groups.