Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential strategic value of OneWeb for supporting Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK has provided a significant number of communication systems to Ukraine, including satellite-based systems, many of which have been integrated into a range of military capabilities. We have considered OneWeb as part of our support package, but, to date, we have not provided OneWeb systems to Ukraine.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are specific on the communications systems they require, and their requests have focussed on different satellite systems. Our support remains agile, and we could switch towards more Satellite communications systems, including OneWeb, if that was deemed a higher priority.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent funding Sheffield Forgemasters has received from the Nuclear Innovation Programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Sheffield Forgemasters received £4,224,812 of funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero sponsored Nuclear Innovation Programme between July 2019 and June 2023.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many SMEs his Department awarded space defence sector contracts to in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023; and what steps he is taking to improve the ability of SMEs to access space defence contracts.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In 2021 the Ministry of Defence awarded no space defence sector contracts to SMEs; in 2022 we awarded five; and in 2023 we awarded 10. The MOD is supporting UK businesses through our Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Action Plan and wider initiatives with the Defence Suppliers Forum, maximising our strategic relationship with industry to deliver world class capability and support to the Armed Forces. We are encouraging our major suppliers to publish their own sub-contract opportunities through the Defence Sourcing Portal, making it easier for SMEs to find and bid for defence work.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, in close consultation with Defence, will make a further publication for the space sector in the coming months, which will increase growth and resilience in the UK space.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the budget for SKYNET 6 has been spent as of 4 December 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
As of 4 December 2023, £1,164 million (13%) of the SKYNET 6 budget has been spent.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of defence technology start-ups that have been established in the UK since 2010; and what steps he is taking to support the establishment of defence technology start-up companies.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold data on the exact number of defence start-up companies. In 2021-22 MOD spent £5.715 billion with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) directly and indirectly, which represents an increase from £4.488 billion in 2020-21. We continue to work closely with defence SMEs through the multiple initiatives outlined in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy and SME Action Plan.
Our support to SMEs includes Defence Innovation Loans made available by the Defence and Security Accelerator, DASA, to help SMEs commercialise mature defence solutions; seven loans have been awarded since 2021, totalling £5.3 million. Also, since 2010, MOD’s Ploughshare Innovations Ltd has supported 5 new start-ups spun out from government intellectual property. The Ploughshare Accelerator Fund enables start-ups to secure development funding to bring revolutionary technologies to market. And the Defence science and technology laboratory’s Newcastle site supports defence technology start-up companies in the region through its AI and data science related research.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department has taken to identify academic partnerships involved in the development of dual-use technologies with possible malign or military applications.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence can become aware of partnerships of concern through a number of engagement and horizon-scanning activities. The Department works closely with academia and other Government Departments, including BEIS and the new Research Collaboration and Advice Team, to educate universities about security risks and manage risks associated with academic collaborations.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2022 to Question 119567, on Defence: Regional Planning and Development, if he will provide a regional breakdown of the DASA Regional Partnerships Fund.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The £3.1 million DASA Regional Partnerships Fund has been set up to cover the Levelling Up regions outside the Greater South East. Funding for projects in each region will depend upon regional investor engagement and formal assessment of DASA submissions. The competition process has started, but allocation of funding is not expected before spring 2022.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to box 3.6 on page 172 of the Levelling Up in the United Kingdom White Paper which states that a further £1 billion has been invested in the Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative, what proportion of that funding will be spent on research and development; and how much of that funding is planned to be spent outside the Greater South East.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI) is a research and development programme in partnership with industry and SMEs, set up to develop cutting-edge technologies and expertise to deliver the UK's future combat air capability. All of the further £1 billion outlined in the Levelling Up in the United Kingdom White Paper will be spent on research and development.
FCAS TI funding goes through a broad supply chain including our 'Team Tempest' partners. They are always looking for new expertise to support this work, so we do not hold data on where they will spend this funding. However, given their locations we believe a significant majority of the work undertaken by our FCAS TI suppliers, is executed outside of the South East.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 116930, on Dstl: Newcastle upon Tyne, what the budget of the Science and Technology Experimentation Hub will be; what proportion of the £6.6 billion investment will be spent outside the Greater South East; and who the innovation partners are that that hub will partner with.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Spending Review 2020 provided a ring fenced £6.6 billion minimum investment in Defence Research and Development for the four years of the settlement. Defence is committed to continue increasing its R&D footprint outside the Greater South East, as explained within the Levelling Up White Paper,. This also forms part of the implementation of the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.
Dstl Newcastle is a new, strategically located S&T Hub specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science. It will allow Dstl to recruit and develop local expertise, and enhance its ability to access skills and expertise within Industry and Academia across the North East. Locally based innovation organisations such as the National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), will support Dstl's objectives by enhancing its understanding of the opportunities offered by innovation in data both in the North East and across the country.
The Dstl Newcastle Hub does not have a separate budget to that of its parent Division within Dstl; it will provide an additional route by which Dstl will deliver investment in AI and Data Science over the next four years.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 176 of the Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, what steps his Department is taking to welcome Regional Defence and Security Clusters in (a) all regions of England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland by 2023; and what proportion of the funding for those clusters will be spent on Research and Development.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is supporting industry and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in piloting a network of new Regional Defence and Security Clusters (RDSCs). Discussions are at a variety of stages of development with all regions of England, Scotland and Wales, and an initial approach has also recently been made to Northern Ireland, via Invest Northern Ireland.
Following the successful launch of the first pilot in the South West of England the creation of further Regional Defence and Security Clusters (RDSCs) has been led by the individual regions. MOD has supported and facilitated this approach and deliberately not attempted to lead this activity in order to encourage regional growth without sole dependency on MOD opportunities.
These clusters, which may be physical or virtual, will allow industry and government to share ideas, promoting collaboration and commercialisation. They are intended to develop innovative regional industrial capabilities to contribute to UK military capability by creating collaborative pathways for SMEs as a route into the Defence supply chain.
The MOD does not plan to fund RDSCs directly but will offer access to funded competitive opportunities via the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Open Call for Innovation and Themed Competitions. Since DASA’s launch in 2016, it has agreed funding worth more than £170million for innovative ideas that could benefit Defence and Security. RDSCs will also be able to access other routes to funding supporting the regions such as the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme.
In addition, RDSCs will be able to take advantage of the DASA Regional Partnerships (RP) Fund (£3.1million over four years) that aims to promote growth by targeting regional innovators. It seeks to leverage regional-based equity by mandating that 100% DASA RP funding for technology development is supported by regional investment to build the business.