Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) value of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme to businesses in (i) West Sussex and (ii) Arundel and South Downs constituency since the introduction of that scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
In the Chichester (West Sussex) constituency as of 15 November, 118 loans were offered under the CBILS scheme to a value of £24,286,975. In the same constituency, 2106 loans were offered under the BBLS scheme to a value of £63,038,524.
In the Arundel and South Downs constituency as of 15 November, 127 loans were offered under the CBILS scheme to a value of £22,734,238. In the same constituency, 2089 loans were offered under the BBLS scheme to a value of £61,589,232.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the quantum computing industry.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government provides a range of support measures for the digital economy and the tech sector. From its inception in 2014, the UK’s ten-year National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP) is set to provide £1bn public and private funding for the development of quantum technologies.
The programme funds a range of activities to support the growth of the quantum computing industry, including £61m for collaborative technology development through the quantum technology hubs. The Quantum Computing and Simulation (QCS) Hub has 17 academic and 29 industrial partners across the breadth of the UK. The QCS Hub comprises a partnership resource fund to aid collaborations with new partners and to overcome potential commercialisation problems in the emerging QC landscape.
The Wave 3 Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Commercialising Quantum Technologies Challenge (ISCF) funds projects to support commercialisation, and supply chain development, or bring consortia together to explore applications (representing c£35m for quantum computing and related components to-date).
Within the recently launched National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) £93m has been allocated to help deliver quantum computing capabilities for the UK and support the growth of the industry. The vision is to be a world class centre, where government, academia and industry work collaboratively to develop quantum computing, securing this strategically important technology for the benefit of the UK.
The Centre will support the development of a quantum ready economy; one that can take advantage of the opportunities presented by quantum computing to generate and retain value across the economy, achieve societal benefits and maintain national security.
In addition, two EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships are focussed on growing the quantum computing software industry in the UK and developing quantum computing hardware (between UCL and Google (£1.9m), and between St Andrews and MSquared (£1.4m).
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the artificial intelligence industry.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Industrial Strategy AI and Data Grand Challenge sets out the Government’s vision to make the UK a global centre for AI and data innovation, which includes developing the skills that will contribute to building the best environment for AI development and deployment.
In addition, The AI Sector Deal brings together commitments from Government, Industry and Academia in a near £0.95bn package of support to promote the adoption and use of AI.
The attached Annex lists the achievements so far under the Sector Deal.
We are refreshing the Industrial Strategy to reflect the UK’s changing priorities, our new relationship with the European Union and responding to the ongoing global pandemic. It will build on our achievements, enable the UK to maintain its position as a world leader in AI and support ground-breaking innovations, whilst helping to drive economic growth across the country.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department is making in delivering the proposed spaceport in (a) Cornwall and (b) Sutherland.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The UK Space Agency is monitoring progress across all potential UK spaceports, and are aiming for the first UK launches to take place in 2022.
UK Space Agency awarded £7.35m to Virgin Orbit to support their plans to launch from Cornwall, with the spaceport being delivered separately by Spaceport Cornwall. The UK Space Agency engage regularly with Cornwall Spaceport as part of their oversight of the Virgin Orbit grant and they have recently finalised their Airport Development Implementation Plan for approval. Once approved, works can commence on airport development to meet the requirements for launch operations.
The Government also provided £2.5m to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to develop Space Hub Sutherland in Scotland, and £5.5m to Orbex to build a new rocket to launch from Sutherland. HIE have successfully secured planning approval from Highland Council, and Orbex are making good progress with developing their launch vehicle.