The Prime Minister has announced a series of measures to support Ukraine’s Science & Technology and research sectors, as part of the UK’s wider efforts to bolster Ukraine’s economy and security in the face of Russia’s brutality.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine was a regional Science & Technology powerhouse. The technology sector accounted for 4% of the country’s GDP and Ukraine was home to around 5,000 IT companies and 285,000 IT specialists.

Science and Technology has already played a role in boosting Ukraine’s war effort unlike any ever seen before. From international crypto donations to companies like Uber and AirBnB using their platforms to help to those forced to flee violence.

The sector will also be vital to Ukraine’s long-term resilience and recovery. It will be a platform on which Ukraine rebounds – providing jobs, attracting investment and developing next-generation technology. As a science superpower, the UK hosts some of the world’s most important technology companies. There is huge scope for world-leading UK companies to partner with Ukrainian ones – creating and sustaining jobs and investment in both our countries for generations to come.

The package of measures announced by the Prime Minister today (Tuesday 28th June) will give Ukraine’s best scientists and tech entrepreneurs the help they need to rebuild their country. They will be enhanced and supported by the leadership and generosity of UK organisations, many of which have already offered extensive assistance to their Ukrainian counterparts.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

The people of Ukraine have had to sacrifice so much at the hands of Putin’s barbarism. But I remain utterly dedicated to ensuring a future in which, together, the Ukraine and the UK thrive.

People across the UK have opened their hearts and their homes to support those fleeing violence in Ukraine, and our world-leading universities, research institutions and tech businesses are no different.

Science and technology will be decisive in ensuring Putin fails in Ukraine, and it will be crucial as we rebuild the Ukrainian economy. The UK will be with our Ukrainian friends every step of the way.

And to the Russian scientists and researchers who are looking upon Putin’s violence in dismay, and who no longer feel safe in Russia: you should feel free to apply to come to the UK and work in a country that values openness, freedom and the pursuit of knowledge.

More than 130 Ukrainian academics will be brought to, and supported in, the UK under the ‘Researchers at Risk’ programme which launched in March. £3 million was initially allocated to the programme and a further £9.8 million announced today will allow it to expand significantly to meet demand.

The Researchers at Risk scheme enables Ukrainian academics to continue their research at UK institutions, whether they are fleeing the conflict or already in the UK and unable to return home. The Fellowships provide a salary, research and living costs for up to two years for these researchers, helping Ukraine to preserve its research ecosystem. They can then return to Ukraine to help rebuild the country and ensure it prospers.

Serhii Shkarlet, Ukrainian Minister for Science and Education said:

We appreciate greatly the decision of the UK Government to expand the Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme, which has already received a £3 million aid package.

Thanks to the support of the United Kingdom, Ukrainian scientists who were forced to flee abroad due to Russian aggression will be able to continue their research and share their experience with foreign colleagues. Equally important is the support of Ukrainian universities, which thanks to the new UK twinning programme will be able to cooperate with leading universities in the UK.

I believe that such collaboration will strengthen significantly the cooperation between our countries in the field of education and science.

The UK Government will also provide funding to support the Universities UK International and the Cormack Consultancy Group twinning programme between UK and Ukrainian academic institutions. The project aims to establish more than 100 long-term, sustainable partnerships to support Ukrainian institutions, students and researchers during the current conflict and beyond.

79 UK universities have already signed up to the scheme, including the University of Edinburgh which has linked up with Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Wrexham Glyndwr University which has twinned with Chernihiv Polytechnic National University – extending the existing relationship between the two towns.

The nature of the support universities will provide is tailored to the needs of Ukrainian institutions. The University of Liverpool, for example, is providing access to extensive online learning materials across a range of subjects, as well as electronic library access and free places on summer schools.

A further 61 Ukrainian universities are looking to partner with UK institutions and there is international interest in the scheme in Ireland, the USA, Canada and across Europe.

Vivienne Stern MBE, Director of Universities UK International said:

We are delighted that the government is putting its weight behind this extraordinary scheme, through which 79 UK universities have paired up with Ukrainian universities to help them to continue to operate, helping them teach remotely, hosting their staff and students on UK campuses, providing library access and equipment, and supporting the continuation of Ukrainian research activity.

These are significant and long-term commitments, and the solidarity shown between universities in the UK and Ukraine has been remarkable and inspiring to witness.

Finally, to help those Ukrainian Science & Tech business leaders who have been temporarily forced to move operations by the Russian invasion, the Department for International Trade will increase efforts in Ukraine under its Global Entrepreneur Programme (GEP). The programme aims to offer temporary relocation, mentorship and connections with UK industry to entrepreneurs who relocate to the UK. The GEP supports entrepreneurs in Ukraine from its hub in Poland.

Since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK Government has announced a number of measures, alongside the S&T sector, to support Ukrainian researchers and entrepreneurs.

In addition to the Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme, which has been expanded today, UK Research and Innovation is prioritising Global Talent visa endorsement applications from Ukrainian national researchers, technologists, and other specialists.

The UK Government is working closely with the UK tech industry to support efforts to help Ukraine rebuild and rebound from Putin’s war. This includes supporting the proposal to hold a ‘Re.Build’ conference. The conference, organised by the Founders Forum, will help ensure the most innovative technology companies in the UK and around the world contribute to the Ukrainian recovery effort in the most effective way.

Many leaseholders will for the first time be legally protected from unfair bills to make their homes safe as measures in the Building Safety Act 2022 come into force today (28 June 2022).

Those responsible for historical safety defects, and those who own buildings, will instead be required to fund essential repairs.

Some developers are already stepping up and doing the right thing, 45 of the UK’s biggest homebuilders have agreed to fix life-critical fire-safety defects on all buildings 11 metres+ that they have played a role in developing or refurbishing in the last 30 years.

Stronger measures in the act include new powers for the Secretary of State to restrict irresponsible developers’ ability to build new homes, an extension of the Building Safety levy worth an estimated £3 billion and improving building owners’ rights to launch legal action against developers.

To mark this important development, the Secretary of State has written to freeholders and made clear that the days of leaseholders being faced with large invoices for building safety repairs are now over. The letter reminds freeholders that qualifying leaseholders now have protections in law from costs and that they will be acting illegally if they attempt to circumvent them.

The letter also reminds them of their new responsibilities as part of the Act, including ensuring buildings have updated fire risk assessments that reflect the latest guidance on proportionality.

Where freeholders or owners of buildings over 18m with cladding related issues do not have clear plans to address these issues, they must have full assessments ready to submit to the Building Safety Fund, which will reopen for new applications shortly, helping to ensure applications can be handled in good time, reducing the disruption and stress to leaseholders.

They must inform and consult leaseholders throughout. If they do not do these things, responsible authorities now have the legal powers to compel them to remediate their buildings, and to ensure that they meet the costs.

Alongside this, the government has signed contracts for a new Professional Insurance Indemnity Scheme. This will help assessors conduct EWS1 assessments to identify whether buildings have fire safety risks, ensuring professionals can make sensible decisions and restoring common sense and proportionality to the market.

The following measures from the Act have been prioritised to ensure leaseholders are protected and will come into force from today:

Leaseholder protections

For the first time, qualifying leaseholders living in buildings above 11 metres tall or with at least 5 storeys will be legally protected from extortionate building safety costs:

• Qualifying leaseholders (those living in their own homes, or with up to 3 UK properties in total) will be protected, in full, from the costs associated with the remediation of unsafe cladding. They will also have robust and far-reaching protections from the costs associated with non-cladding defects, including interim measures like waking watches.

• It will be illegal for freeholders to pass on the cost of historical building repair works or the removal of cladding to any of their leaseholders, including non-qualifying leaseholders, if they are or are linked to the building’s developer.

• It will be illegal for freeholders to pass on any historical building safety costs to qualifying leaseholders if they pass the wealth test set out in law.

• Where a developer cannot be held responsible and the building owner is not required to meet the costs in full, leaseholders with non-cladding related issues will also be protected by a cap on how much they can pay for these costs. The cap will only apply to non-cladding related work for those whose property is valued at more than £325,000 (London) and £175,000 outside London (owners of properties below this ceiling will pay nothing). Where leaseholders have bought through shared ownership, their cap will reflect their share of ownership in the property.

• Any costs that are not recoverable from leaseholders will need to be met by building owners and landlords.

• Buyers of new build homes will be able to hold their developer responsible for safety and quality issues under a new scheme from the New Homes Ombudsman.

Other measures in the act include:

Making industry pay

• New powers for the Secretary of State to restrict irresponsible developers’ ability to build new homes, including if they refuse to take responsibility for fixing life-critical fire safety defects on all buildings 11 metres+ that they have played a role in developing or refurbishing in the last 30 years.

• Extending the Building Safety Levy to be charged on all new residential buildings. Expected to raise an estimated £3 billion over 10 years, this will fund a new government scheme to pay for the removal of unsafe cladding on buildings of 11-18m where the developer cannot be traced or has failed to agree to cover the costs upfront.

• Enhanced civil liabilities for building owners, enabling them to launch legal action against developers, contractors and manufacturers for shoddy construction works and defective products which have caused homes to be unhabitable in the past 30 years.

• Extra powers for the courts in England and Wales to go after associated companies. This means businesses who have hidden behind shadowy shell companies within their corporate structures can now be pursued to pay.

• These new laws will allow the government to consider appropriate action to pursue these companies as part of a new Recovery Unit that is based in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Improving building standards and restoring common sense

Tough, new regulations for the industry will enforce a higher quality of building standards – ensuring homes are made safer and that a proportionate approach is taken to safety:

• A new Building Safety Regulator – overseen by the Health & Safety Executive – will enforce a new, more stringent regulatory regime on the safety and performance of high-rise buildings in scope, in England. It will also consult and respond to safety concerns raised by residents through a new Residents’ Panel.

• A National Regulator for Construction Products will implement stronger standards on construction manufacturers in the UK. Part of the Office for Product Safety and Standards, this new regulator will conduct vital market surveillance to spot and remove unsafe materials faster, as well as confront poor practice by taking action against those that break the rules.