Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2025 to Question 65724 on Innovate UK: Northern Ireland, how many projects have been successfully completed under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
59 Knowledge Transfer Partnership projects that involved either a Northern Ireland (NI) based business, or a NI based university or FE college successfully completed in the last 3 years. A breakdown of these projects in each year is:
2022 – 28
2023 – 17
2024 – 14
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will have discussions with the Semiconductor Advisory Panel on the ongoing work of Northern Ireland based clusters.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the strategic importance of the semiconductor sector across the UK, including the growing cluster in Northern Ireland with strengths in photonics, power, and sensors. The Semiconductor Advisory Panel, co-chaired by Lord Vallance, meets quarterly and plays a key role in shaping our national approach to support the semiconductor industry, including supporting the development of clusters. The Government is committed to supporting the Northern Irish cluster, such as through the SmartNano NI Initiative funded with £42.4 million from UKRI, and the Panel will continue to discuss the Northern Ireland cluster as part of its ongoing work.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many grant assistance programmes are run in partnership between Innovate UK and Invest NI for Companies based in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK and Invest NI co-fund the Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme, which partners businesses with graduates. Approximately 450 projects have been successfully completed in Northern Ireland since 2003.
More widely, Invest NI is part of the Innovate UK Business Growth Delivery Programme. Although not a grant assistance programme, this programme has supported 339 businesses in Northern Ireland in the last 3 years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58921 on Innovate UK: Northern Ireland, how many companies were awarded contracts for Innovation grants in Northern Ireland in 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In 2024, 3 Contracts for Innovation (CfI) grants were awarded by Innovate UK to companies in Northern Ireland, totalling just over £2 million.
The majority of CfI competitions in Northern Ireland are organised and delivered by other public bodies; for which Innovate UK do not hold data.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 61122 on Life Sciences: Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with Innovate UK on ensuring the Launchpad programme supports clusters of SMEs beyond the Greater Belfast area.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Health and Life Sciences Launchpad is already supporting clusters beyond the Greater Belfast area. For example, in Coleraine, it is funding EOSDX, which is developing an AI-driven, non-invasive structural biomarker test for breast cancer diagnosis. In Derry City and Strabane, it is funding ActionSense’s development of an innovative rehabilitation project aimed at transforming stroke recovery. And in Craigavon, it is supporting e-Clear to develop a dementia training platform. More information on funded projects is available at https://www.ukri.org/publications/innovate-uk-funded-projects-since-2004/. Innovate UK and the Launchpad Cluster Management Organisation HIRANI will continue to support stakeholders across Northern Ireland to drive innovation led growth.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the distribution of allocations from the Northern Ireland Life and Health Sciences Launchpad is equitable.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme is aimed at supporting clusters of SMEs and the most innovative businesses to progress their ideas toward commercialisation, contributing to local economic growth. Social equity and UK-wide impact are important features of the programme.
The Health and Life Sciences Launchpad in Northern Ireland is run in partnership between Innovate UK and Invest NI. Funding has so far been offered to over forty-five projects, across digital health, biotech therapeutics and diagnostics and medical technologies disciplines. During the competition period, Innovate UK and Invest NI raised awareness across different areas through media channels and hosting several in-person sub-regional workshops.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58921 on Innovate UK: Northern Ireland, how Innovate UK’s regional support advisors in Northern Ireland promote the availability of Innovation Funding Services in Northern Ireland to small firms that previously had no contact with Innovate UK.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK actively promotes its products and services to Northern Ireland businesses to improve their access to innovation funding and resources and foster growth within the region’s innovation ecosystem. It does this through a variety of channels. These include Innovate Local events, joint webinars with Invest NI, and participation in Enterprise NI’s finance series. Innovate UK competitions are also promoted on nibusinessinfo.co.uk by Invest NI. The programmes they promote are an important source of support for businesses in Northern Ireland. For example, Innovate UK Business Growth has supported 339 businesses over three years, while the ‘New Innovators’ funding program, which is only available to businesses without prior Innovate UK engagement, has provided £1 million to 23 small and micro businesses since 2020.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what work Innovate UK plans to take to increase advertising of the Contracts for Innovation grants programme in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK designed the methodology and provides guidance on Contracts for Innovation but most competitions are organised and delivered by other public bodies.
Innovate UK promote all Contracts for Innovation competitions it is aware of through social media and other communication channels. When Innovate UK directly operates competitions, it advertises them through its Innovation Funding Service alongside all other R&D funding opportunities. Innovate UK’s regional support advisors active in Northern Ireland can help direct local firms to appropriate funding programmes.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many people enrolled under the student recruitment system in the UK Space Agency’s Space Placements In Industry Programme in 2024.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Space Placements in Industry Programme supported a total of 135 student placements over the summer of 2024, 119 of which were UK Space Agency funded and 16 of which were company funded.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill on the development of artificial intelligence models.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Compliance, productivity and familiarisation costs savings of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning reforms in the Data (Use and Access) Bill have been considered and can be found in the indirect benefits and costs sections of the impact assessment (IA). The ethical assessment can also be found in the impact on individuals section. The assessment of the effect on different organisations by size and sector can be found in the small and micro business assessment section of the IA here (particularly, Table 14, 24, 25, 26 & 34).