Academic Technology Approval Scheme
(asked on 16th November 2022) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the average wait time is for the approval of Academic Technology Approval Scheme accreditation.
Answered by
Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes its responsibility towards countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional military technology seriously. The Academic Technology Approval Scheme is a thorough, necessary and proportionate tool to protect UK research from misappropriation and divergence to military programmes of concern. The majority of applications are processed within published timescales, which is 30 working days between April and September. We are aware that a small percentage of cases remain outside of target processing times and our teams are working to clear those. We continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme and a planned IT upgrade should provide greater capability.