Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of (a) Innovate UK and (b) UKRI to manufacturing firms in the defence industry.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with Innovate UK and UKRI to ensure broad awareness of the opportunities available for manufacturing companies in the defence industry. Innovate UK and UKRI (through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)) are core members of the Research Technology and Innovation Group (RTIG), a forum discussing and sharing knowledge on current science, innovation and technology challenges, co-chaired by Industry and the MOD.

The Department is in partnership with Innovate UK to deliver the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP), providing grant funding to small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) to develop innovative technologies and processes, and to enhance defence supply chains. The MOD has also developed an approach to Cross Sector Innovation challenges that enables and supports collaboration between Defence, Other Government Departments, Industry and Academia. These initiatives are all helping to raise awareness of Innovate UK and UKRI across the defence industry so that firms are able to take advantage of the opportunities and work with us to solve shared challenges.