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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has published alternative plans to full association with the EU Horizon programme.

The Government has always been clear that our priority is to support the UK’s research and development sector and maintain strong international collaborations and we will continue to do this in all future scenarios.

As announced in the 2021 Spending Review, in the event that the UK’s association to Horizon Europe is not formalised by the EU, the funding allocated to Horizon association will go to UK government R&D programmes, including those to support international partnerships.

In November, the Government announced a guarantee to provide a financial safety net for successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe, while the government continues to push to formalise our association as soon as possible. At the same time, I published an open letter to the R&D sector setting out the UK’s commitment to association, but also our priorities for supporting the sector in a scenario where association proves not possible. These build on the UK Research and Development Roadmap, which sets out a solid foundation for our plans in different scenarios.