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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his plans are for the future of UK Shared Business Services Ltd; and if he will make a statement.

UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UKSBS) is a company owned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and a number of the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies. UKSBS provides a range of back office services to its owners and to other arm’s length bodies. The Department had previously decided that these services would be transferred to other public sector providers or the private sector and that the company would be closed. However some of the assumptions that underpinned that decision are no longer valid. Furthermore the demand for back office services has changed as a result of new proposals announced by the Government including, for example, the recent Machinery of Government changes and the creation of UK Research and Innovation (subject to Parliament). The Department is committed to modernisation, increasing flexibility and reducing operating costs, especially through the application of innovative technology and digital services. The Department is currently reviewing how its back office services should be provided in the future and the role that UKSBS might play in that provision. In the meantime UKSBS continues to provide services to its customers and will make an important contribution to the creation of, and transition to, UK Research and Innovation.