Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of business research and development contracts held by UK universities that have been paused as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Government announced a package of support for UK universities on 4^th May to ensure that the university research base can fully contribute to the UK recovery and our economy in the longer-term post COVID-19. The Department does not hold any information about the number of business R&D contracts held by UK universities that have been paused as a result of COVID-19. However, BEIS is working with the sector to gather information and intelligence about the impact of COVID-19 on business-funded research.