National Security and Investment Act 2021

Oliver Dowden Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Oliver Dowden)]

I am today laying before Parliament the annual report covering the operation of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. A copy of the report will also be published on www.gov.uk. My actions today fulfil the requirements under section 61 of the NSI Act for this year.

We promised to deliver a regime that is as business friendly as possible while protecting our national security. This annual report demonstrates that we are succeeding in that mission. The vast majority of businesses in the UK had zero interaction with this screening process during the last financial year, nor any need to do so. Of those who did, we have made the system as fast, predictable and transparent as possible.

Of the notifications that I and previous decision makers reviewed, we cleared the vast majority—92.8% —within a rapid 30 working days. We met statutory deadlines for all notifications that were reviewed in this period, called in 65 acquisitions for scrutiny, and ultimately made proportionate interventions through 15 final orders to protect national security.

These statistics show that notifications, call-ins, final orders and final notifications were distributed across a wide range of different origins of investment, across a wide variety of sectors and from many different countries. Defence-related acquisitions featured prominently at call-in and final orders, but acquisitions across communications, energy, advanced materials and computing hardware sectors were also subject to final orders.

This demonstrates that risks can arise from a variety of sources and are judged case-by-case in accordance with the statement made under section 3 of the NSI Act.

I am personally committed to ensuring this process is as smooth and transparent as possible. So, in addition to fulfilling my section 61 obligations, this year’s report includes further information not required by the NSI Act itself. For the first time, I include information on the geographic origins of investment. I hope this will help stakeholders’ engagement with the NSI Act.

I am pleased to lay this NSI annual report in Parliament today and I look forward to continuing to update the House as appropriate over the coming years.

[HCWS925]