Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 53867 on Innovation: Aldridge-Brownhills, what the names are of the (a) members and (b) local (i) leaders, (ii) research organisations and (iii) industry that comprise the local partnership.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The West Midlands Innovation Board is responsible for developing, coordinating and supporting the delivery of plans for the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator pilot. A full list of the board’s members and observers can be found on the West Midlands Combined Authority website: https://www.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/economy-and-innovation/west-midlands-innovation/west-midlands-innovation-board/. I encourage you to reach out to the West Midlands Combined Authority directly with any further questions about its governance arrangements.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49740 Innovation: Aldridge-Brownhills, how much Innovation Accelerator pilot grant funding has been allocated to businesses in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
£33m was allocated to the West Midlands pilot of the £100m Innovation Accelerator programme. This has been supplemented by an additional £10m through the funding extension for 2025/26.
UKRI does not collect data on Innovation Accelerator funding by Parliamentary constituency. The delivery team are not aware of any grant recipients headquartered in Aldridge-Brownhills, but that does not mean that funded activity is not taking part in Aldridge-Brownhills.
Decisions on how to invest the funding in the West Midlands were led by a local partnership made up of local leaders, research organisations, and industry. This partnership has worked closely with UKRI to ensure that the projects receiving public funding will be effective in developing the local innovation ecosystem.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits for businesses in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency of the £10m grant issued to the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator this year.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We were delighted to extend the Innovation Accelerator pilot into 2025/26, investing an extra £30 million in growing high-potential clusters in the West Midlands, Glasgow City Region and Greater Manchester.
The West Midlands Innovation Accelerators is supporting a range of projects focused on business innovation. For example, Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator is helping companies navigate “pinch-points” in the medical translation process, and Clean Futures is supporting SMEs to develop, demonstrate and grow clean-tech solutions in partnership with the wider ecosystem.
Innovate UK will continue to work collaboratively with each regional partnership to maximise the impact on their regions.