Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has he made of the reasons for the exemption of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency from the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

ARIA is a small body with limited administrative capacity to handle Freedom of Information Act requests. It is important that ARIA is focused on funding long-term transformational research for the benefit of the UK.

ARIA is, however, dedicated to transparency. ARIA has other statutory commitments to transparency, including requirements for it to submit an annual report and a statement of accounts, which are laid before Parliament and audited by the National Audit Office or a commercial auditor. In addition to this, ARIA regularly publishes transparency information on its website, including on its financial transactions, contracts and funding recipients.