Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Iran’s (a) financial, (b) material and (c) military support for international terror groups.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We have long been clear about our concerns over Iran's continued destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant and proscribed groups, including Hizballah in Lebanon and Syria, militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. We regularly raise Iran's destabilising role in the region at UN Security Council. We continue to support the security of our allies, including through our close defence partnerships across the Middle East and by working to strengthen institutions and build capacity in more vulnerable countries, including in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the £400,000 First of a Kind grant allocated to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd in January 2019 by Innovate UK for a transport project, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of return on investment in that project; and if he will publish that project's findings and recommendations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Riding Sunbeams has been the lead partner in two projects awarded funding through the First of a Kind (FOAK) rail innovation competition funded by DfT and managed by Innovate UK (IUK). Its “First Light” project was awarded £350,000 in 2019; while “Daybreak” was awarded £400,000 in 2020, rather than 2019. These competitions offer valuable funding and relationships to help companies overcome the barriers to testing new technology on the live railway, which in turn is crucial to address key challenges for rail capacity, customer experience and, in the case of Riding Sunbeams’ projects, decarbonisation.
Riding Sunbeams’ projects, like all competition winners, were selected for funding by IUK based on standard evaluation processes. They were assessed for eligibility, and scored by independent expert assessors based on criteria including how well they met the challenges set out in the competition; their levels of innovation, and technical and commercial feasibility; and their budget and capabilities.
The contractually-required output of these projects was a successful demonstration of the funded technology for potential buyers in a representative railway environment, rather than findings or recommendations for publication.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the £350,000 First of a Kind grant allocated to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd in January 2019 by Innovate UK for a transport project, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of return on investment in that project; and if he will publish that project's findings and recommendations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Riding Sunbeams has been the lead partner in two projects awarded funding through the First of a Kind (FOAK) rail innovation competition funded by DfT and managed by Innovate UK (IUK). Its “First Light” project was awarded £350,000 in 2019; while “Daybreak” was awarded £400,000 in 2020, rather than 2019. These competitions offer valuable funding and relationships to help companies overcome the barriers to testing new technology on the live railway, which in turn is crucial to address key challenges for rail capacity, customer experience and, in the case of Riding Sunbeams’ projects, decarbonisation.
Riding Sunbeams’ projects, like all competition winners, were selected for funding by IUK based on standard evaluation processes. They were assessed for eligibility, and scored by independent expert assessors based on criteria including how well they met the challenges set out in the competition; their levels of innovation, and technical and commercial feasibility; and their budget and capabilities.
The contractually-required output of these projects was a successful demonstration of the funded technology for potential buyers in a representative railway environment, rather than findings or recommendations for publication.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much of the £2.5 million granted to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd under the Getting Building Fund in November 2020 has been used to pay staff at (a) Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd, (b) the charity Possible, (c) Friends Provident Foundation, (d) Thrive Renewables Ltd and (e) Snowball Impact Management Ltd.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This level of detail is not held by MHCLG. The contract for the project is between East Sussex County Council and Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd. The bulk of the £2.527 million costs are allocated to capital expenditure, with £300k allocated to management costs.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what measures were in place to mitigate against potential conflicts of interest during the funding process to award a £2.5 million grant to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd in November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The South East Local Enterprise Partnership's conflict of interest policy is freely available on their website: https://www.southeastlep.com/app/uploads/2020/04/Conflict-of-Interest-Policy-2020-1.pdf.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the commercial basis for his Department’s decision to award a £2.5 million grant to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The business case prepared for this project and all associated papers are freely available on the South East Local Enterprise Partnership website: https://www.southeastlep.com/app/uploads/2019/09/Riding-Sunbeams.pdf.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the award of a £2.5 million grant by his Department to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd, whether officials in his Department had (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with representatives of (i) the Friends Provident Foundation and their investment director and (ii) Thrive Renewables.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
No such meetings have taken place and there has been no correspondence
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the grant of £2.5 million by his Department to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd in November 2020 for a local infrastructure project, what safeguards his Department put in place to ensure that that project (a) was completed by March 2022, (b) provided a return on investment and (c) met the objectives of the Getting Building Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
All Getting Building Fund projects have been funded on the understanding that they will complete by March 2022 and this is stipulated in the contract. The independent technical evaluator's report on the project's business case confirmed their view that the project was high value for money and fully met the objectives of the Getting Building Fund.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the (a) readiness, (b) level of risk and (c) potential effect on employment of the Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd project granted £2.5 million in funding under the Getting Building Fund in November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
These were assessed by the Local Enterprise Partnership's independent technical evaluator, who judged that (a) there were good grounds for believing the project could start on time and be completed by March 2022, (b) there was a degree of risk attaching to the Network Rail's commitment to purchase power from the project for an initial 2-4 year period only, with no guarantees beyond this test period, meaning that full long term benefits may not accrue if the contract to purchase power were not expended and (c) the projected figure of 40 jobs was robust and moreover 'the investment is in line with the UK government's aim to stimulate post Covid-19 economic recovery through investment in infrastructure.'
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd met in being awarded £2.5 million in funding under the Getting Building Fund in November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
In assessing the business case for the project the Local Enterprise Partnership's technical evaluators, Steer Davies Gleave Ltd, said: A compelling strategic case has been developed demonstrating that the scheme is well aligned with the strategic objectives of the Getting Building Fund. The scheme is expected to generate a total of 40 jobs, and it supports the Green Recovery by enabling trains to be powered by renewable energy. Moreover, this investment is in line with the UK government's aim to stimulate post Covid-19 economic recovery through investment in infrastructure.