Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which sectors have experienced (1) the highest growth in foreign investment, and (2) the largest decline in foreign investment, over the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
Darren Tierney | Permanent Secretary
The Lord Risby
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
25 November 2025
Dear Lord Risby,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking which sectors have experienced (1) the highest growth in foreign investment, and (2) the largest decline in foreign investment, over the past three years (HL12068).
Our statistics for inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) positions measure the investment held by UK-resident companies that have foreign immediate parent companies. FDI positions are essentially the stock of investment held at a point in time. Our statistics are defined by the Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07), and our published results disaggregate UK total FDI into 18 industries.
· Table 1 shows the three industries with the biggest percentage increase and decrease in FDI positions at the end of 2023 compared with the end of 2020.
· Table 2 includes the three industries with the highest and lowest value increases for inward FDI positions at the end of 2023 compared with at the end of 2020.
· Table 3 gives the three industries with the highest annual percentage increase in FDI positions compared with the end of the previous year for each year between 2021 and 2023.
· Table 4 gives the three industries with the lowest annual percentage increase (biggest decrease) in FDI positions for each year between 2021 and 2023.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Table 1: Industries with the highest and lowest percentage increase at the end of 2023 compared with the end of 2020 for inward foreign direct investment positions
Rank | Industry | Percentage change at end-2023 compared with end-2020 |
Highest | Administrative and support service activities | 747.6 |
Second | Agriculture, forest and fishing | 98.9 |
Third | Information and communication | 40.3 |
Lowest | Mining and quarrying | -68.3 |
Second | Computer, electronic and optical products | -32.1 |
Third | Professional, scientific and technical services | -29.6 |
Source: Foreign direct investment involving UK companies (directional): inward[1],2
Table 2: Industries with the highest and lowest value increase at the end of 2023 compared with the end of 2020 for inward foreign direct investment positions, £ million
Rank | Industry | Change in value at end-2023 compared with end-2020 |
Highest | Administrative and support service activities | 163,324 |
Second | Financial services | 76,771 |
Third | Other services | 65,871 |
Lowest | Professional, scientific and technical services | -81,542 |
Second | Mining and quarrying | -67,499 |
Third | Manufacture of petroleum, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastic products | -11,381 |
Source: Foreign direct investment involving UK companies (directional): inward1,[2]
Table 3: Industries with the highest annual percentage increase for inward foreign direct investment positions, 2021 to 2023
Year | Rank | Industry | Percentage change from previous year |
2021 | Highest | Administrative and support service activities | 502.5 |
2021 | Second | Agriculture, forest and fishing | 51.1 |
2021 | Third | Other services | 26.8 |
2022 | Highest | Computer, electronic and optical products | 59.9 |
2022 | Second | Mining and quarrying | 36.4 |
2022 | Third | Other manufacturing | 30.4 |
2023 | Highest | Agriculture, forest and fishing | 43.1 |
2023 | Second | Information and communication | 32.2 |
2023 | Third | Administrative and support service activities | 26.4 |
Source: Foreign direct investment involving UK companies (directional): inward1,2
Table 4: Industries with the lowest annual percentage increase for inward foreign direct investment positions, 2021 to 2023
Year | Rank | Industry | Percentage change from previous year |
2021 | Lowest | Mining and quarrying | -79.1 |
2021 | Second | Computer, electronic and optical products | -34.4 |
2021 | Third | Information and communication | -11.9 |
2022 | Lowest | Professional, scientific and technical services | -15.4 |
2022 | Second | Textiles and wood activities | -8.5 |
2022 | Third | Agriculture, forest and fishing | -8.0 |
2023 | Lowest | Computer, electronic and optical products | -35.3 |
2023 | Second | Transport equipment | -30.2 |
2023 | Third | Professional, scientific and technical services | -27.2 |
Source: Foreign direct investment involving UK companies (directional): inward1,2
[1] Foreign direct investment statistics disaggregated by main industrial activity does not include banks, bank holding companies, public corporations and property. The FDI of these entities is included in the UK total.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of former miners have had an application for industrial injuries disablement benefits rejected over the last 10 years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The table below shows the number of assessments by outcome for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) for people whose Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code on which the IIDB claim is based, is ‘Mining and Quarrying’ over the last 10 years from 2013/14 to 2022/23.
| Number | Percentage |
Accepted - payable | 8,450 | 25% |
Accepted - not payable | 4,200 | 12% |
Accepted – no loss of faculty | 0 | 0% |
Disallowed | 19,570 | 57% |
Withdrawn | 490 | 1% |
Not applicable / Unknown | 1,570 | 5% |
Total | 34,290 | 100% |
Individual outcome categories do not sum to total due to rounding.
Information on Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) assessments by decision type and Standard Industrial Classification code can be found on Stat-Xplore.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 199543 on Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, what (a) types of companies and (b) sectors are eligible for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
Answered by Graham Stuart
To receive support from the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), companies will need to evidence that they are carrying out an eligible industrial process at a site. Companies of any type or size may apply as long as they meet the Government's sector eligibility criteria. Eligible sectors for the IETF are as follows:
More information on IETF eligibility can be found here. The Government is currently reviewing sector eligibility rules for Phase 3 of the IETF, which will launch in early 2024.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, How much of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund has been allocated to the manufacturing industry in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The £289m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports companies in the manufacturing sector as well as mining and quarrying, recycling, and data centres. To date, we have allocated funding across five competitive application windows.
Between July 2022 and July 2023, the IETF has allocated £46.6m of funding to the manufacturing sector alone.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who previously worked in the coal mining industry have been assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Information on the number of assessments for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) by Standard Industrial Classification is available on StatXplore in the IIDB Assessments dataset.
The number of people who were assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit over the last 5 years following employment in a Standard Industrial Classification ‘Mining and Quarrying’ occupation is as follows:
2017/18 – 4,110;
2018/19 – 3,170;
2019/20 – 2,890;
2020/21 – 930;
2021/22 – 2,610.
This covers all assessment outcomes, including: accepted payable; accepted not payable; accepted no loss of faculty; disallowed; withdrawn; unknown and not applicable.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events may have on (a) sourcing geothermal energy, (b) exploration for lithium and other minerals and (c) other planning consents that may result in seismic activity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Infrastructure Act 2015 set out provisions for ‘associated hydraulic fracturing’ where it is defined as hydraulic fracturing of shale or strata encased in shale for the purposes of searching for or extracting petroleum or natural gas. The presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events should therefore have no impact on sourcing geothermal energy or the exploration for lithium and other minerals.
The control and mitigation of induced seismicity for deep geothermal projects is based on the British Standard BS 6472-2 (BSI, 2008), which defines limits for acceptable levels of ground vibrations caused by blasting and quarrying, and other local planning authority guidelines for blasting, quarrying, and mining. These thresholds are defined in terms of measured ground velocity rather than seismicity.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events may have on (a) sourcing geothermal energy and (b) exploration for lithium and other minerals.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Infrastructure Act 2015 set out provisions for ‘associated hydraulic fracturing’ where it is defined as hydraulic fracturing of shale or strata encased in shale for the purposes of searching for or extracting petroleum or natural gas. The presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events should therefore have no impact on sourcing geothermal energy or the exploration for lithium and other minerals.
The control and mitigation of induced seismicity for deep geothermal projects is based on the British Standard BS 6472-2 (BSI, 2008), which defines limits for acceptable levels of ground vibrations caused by blasting and quarrying, and other local planning authority guidelines for blasting, quarrying, and mining. These thresholds are defined in terms of measured ground velocity rather than seismicity.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 35899 on Fuels: Prices, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing further financial incentives for switching to cleaner alternatives to red diesel; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Mak
The Government announced in the 2020 Budget that it would be removing the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. These are important long-term reforms, which ensure most businesses that used red diesel prior to April 2022 now pay the same amount of tax as ordinary motorists. This more fairly reflects the harmful emissions produced. These reforms are also designed to incentivise the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies, and improvements in the energy efficiency of vehicles and machinery.
To support the development of alternatives that affected businesses can switch to, the Government is at least doubling the funding provided for energy innovation through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. From that portfolio, the Government announced the £40 million Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will provide grant funding for projects that develop and demonstrate lower carbon, lower cost alternatives to red diesel for the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors. These sectors were chosen because they encompass 62% of the UK’s red diesel use. However, the technologies developed from this programme will also be applicable to other sectors to support decarbonisation, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is planning a series of dissemination events in the future with industry and other affected sectors to spread awareness about the successes achieved and lessons learned through this programme.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Red Diesel Replacement competition to the metal recycling sector.
Answered by Greg Hands
The £40 million Red Diesel Replacement (RDR) innovation programme focusses on construction, mining and quarrying sectors, accounting for 63% of UK red-diesel usage. The technologies developed and lessons learned through this programme will also benefit the metals recycling sector and will be disseminated to wider industry. Due to the financial and temporal constraints of the programme, there are no plans to expand the scope of RDR at present.
Other Government support includes:
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish a breakdown of Innovate UK's annual spending by (a) sector, (b) funding stage and (c) technology preparedness level.
Answered by Jane Hunt
Innovate UK’s business awarded grant support by Sector based on their Company House registered Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code (where available):
SIC 2007 Section Description | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Accommodation and Food Service |
|
| £0.34m | £0.86m | £0.06m |
|
Administrative and Support Service | £19.09m | £17.30m | £57.93m | £39.52m | £23.77m | £3.78m |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | £4.10m | £4.10m | £39.1m | £8.28m | £2.88m | £1.46m |
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | £0.12m | £0.44m | £1.65m | £2.29m | £1.38m | £0.15m |
Construction | £2.62m | £4.49m | £7.68m | £8.09m | £1.61m | £0.36m |
Education | £0.33m | £3.18m | £2.12m | £5.81m | £0.70m | £0.79m |
Electricity, Gas etc. | £2.75m | £2.37m | £20.06m | £6.50m | £4.26m | £0.57m |
Financial and Insurance | £1.93m | £0.98m | £4.86m | £9.45m | £6.42m | £0.09m |
Human Health and Social Work | £1.96m | £7.04m | £9.27m | £9.97m | £3.75m | £2.56m |
Information and Communication | £69.90m | £73.02m | £89.01m | £172.27m | £99.32m | £25.08m |
Manufacturing | £313.78m | £318.42m | £221.84m | £361.92m | £241.56m | £32.31m |
Mining and Quarrying | £0.40m | £1.14m | £0.85m | £2.64m | £2.80m | £0.04m |
Other Service | £12.22m | £3.63m | £4.29m | £7.03m | £6.90m | £1.76m |
Professional, Scientific and Technical | £167.26m | £190.60m | £229.29m | £261.64m | £180.19m | £49.85m |
Public Administration | £0.14m | £0.07m | £1.79m | £1.93m | £0.08m |
|
Real Estate | £0.11m | £0.33m | £0.44m | £2.84m | £0.54m |
|
Transportation and Storage | £4.79m | £1.02m | £2.35m | £7.00m | £2.09m | £0.30m |
Water & Sewage | £3.16m | £3.84m | £1.56m | £5.80m | £5.34m | £1.68m |
Wholesale & Retail | £9.01m | £7.53m | £18.44m | £16.36m | £9.52m | £2.94m |
Unknown / Not Provided | £24.15m | £19.08m | £43.43m | £7.09m | £23.39m | £4.46m |
Data is not routinely collected on business funding stage. or technology preparedness level. Innovate UK programmes may have a focus for both of these scales but will support a range of innovation within them. Innovate UK’s role is to enable business-led innovation across the UK, helping businesses at all stages grow through technology development and commercialisation