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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the terms of the funds made available to the British Academy to purchase a long lease on their building in Carlton House Terrace; and if he will make a statement.

The National Academies, including the British Academy, are an integral part of the UK’s R&D landscape and provide an important contribution to securing the UK’s status as a global science superpower. In 2018 a grant of £14m was provided to the British Academy to support the extension of the lease on their premises. This also enabled a private donation of £10m, which was conditional on the capital investment. The funding secured the Academy’s long-term future in Carlton House Terrace, close to the other National Academies, providing an intellectual and cultural hub of world-leading knowledge and expertise. In line with usual practice, the government does not publish detailed commercial terms and conditions of grant agreements with individual organisations.