Tag Archives: HM Government

Good morning all.

It is such a pleasure to be here today to launch our new Clean Growth Strategy. Not only because I am required to, under the Climate Change Act.

But also because I am genuinely proud of what we have achieved so far in the United Kingdom and incredibly excited about the huge opportunities for us ahead.

You may wonder why we have asked you to come to this iconic venue, scene of so much national success, this morning.

Well there are two reasons.

The first is because we are benefiting in this building from one of the UK’s biggest low-carbon combined heating, cooling and power facilities – brilliant technology that we want to see deployed much more widely.

And the second reason is… well you will have to wait for that.

Before I begin to detail all the steps we are taking, I want to thank a few people.

First, I want to thank my Secretary of State Greg Clark for his longstanding commitment to action on climate change.

From his time as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change before the 2010 election, to his work across government, he has continued to champion the urgent need to cut emissions and seize the opportunity of clean growth and he deserves a huge amount of credit for this Strategy.

Second, I want to thank Nick Hurd, my predecessor in the department.

Nick put a massive effort into developing the policies in this plan, and I was really delighted I could take the baton from him [not just to steal all the glory] but because when I took on the Strategy, he had got it to a great place.

Thanks also to my amazing team at BEIS who have been working so hard for so long to put this Strategy together.

I also want to thank the Committee on Climate Change and their tireless chairman, Lord Deben.

You don’t realise until you sit in this ministerial chair, what a brilliant piece of legislation the Climate Change Act has proved to be, holding our feet to the fire as we consider every policy choice and empowering the Committee to keep us moving forward despite the short term political cycle.

Finally, I also want to thank all of you here today for your work cajoling, prodding, challenging, sometimes praising and, yes, criticising what we do.

We are not going to tackle the risks of climate change, nor grasp the opportunities of doing so unless we work together and I thank you for your commitment to this most important of issues.

You will know the gestation of our Clean Growth Strategy has been long, at times difficult and sometimes frustrating.

But we finally have a Strategy that is ambitious, broad and binding…

Sets out clear targets….

Harnesses the power of national innovation….

And re-affirms this government’s commitment to lead the way to a low carbon future.

So, today, in launching the Clean Growth Strategy I want to focus on three things:

First, to celebrate the extraordinary success the United Kingdom has achieved in delivering clean growth over the past two decades…

Second, as Greg said, to underline the enormous industrial opportunity for us that is emerging from the global transition to a low carbon economy – and how it will benefit us right across the UK.

And third to set out why this Clean Growth Strategy is distinctive and how it helps us meet the challenges we face.

As I said to start, the reason we are all here is the 2008 Climate Change Act, which had cross-party support and was a totemic piece of legislation. Because of that legislation we have to set out our strategy to meet the upcoming carbon budgets.

But we are also here because we want to be.

As the Prime Minister said in her foreword to our new strategy: “Clean growth is not an option, but a duty we owe to the next generation.”

And I think the UK should be very proud of our record in fulfilling that duty.

We were one of the first countries to recognise both the economic and security threats posed by rising sea levels and rising high temperatures.

And we have followed the guidance provided by that scientific understanding with action.

As Greg said, since 1990, we have cut emissions by more than 40 per cent while our economy has grown by two thirds over that time.

On a per person basis, this means that we have reduced emissions faster than any other G7 nation.

And not by sacrificing growth and competitiveness – we have led the G7 group in growth in national income over that period.

Let me just repeat that – we lead the G7 group of countries in cutting our emissions and growing our economy

Proving as false the view that we couldn’t protect the planet and raise prosperity at the same time.

Our world-first 2008 Climate Change Act set the pace for change, committing us to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050.

And I’m pleased to tell you we are on track.

We over-performed against our first carbon budget, and are on track to do the same for the second and third. This is a fantastic achievement.

Our action at home is matched by our ambition to see action across the world.

This saw us playing a leading role in securing the agreement of 195 countries to sign up to the now historic Paris Climate Agreement…

It commits us to being among the largest contributors of international climate finance.

And it means that from the Prime Minister, Theresa May, downwards we continue to work across the world to ensure the Paris agreement and climate action are delivered and at the forefront of international action – UK leadership that has never been more needed than now.

I know many of you in this room are responsible for this incredible success.

A success which I don’t think we celebrate enough.

Well I promise to keep talking about it and to champion it on your behalf at every opportunity, home and abroad.

The commitments made by 195 countries in Paris also present an unparalleled economic opportunity.

We are seeing the start of a global shift toward clean solutions…

Low carbon ways to get from A to B…

…power and heat produced in way that helps the planet and helps people struggling with their bills…

…and heavy industry going carbon-light.

This shift offers UK businesses and innovators huge potential to shape the future of clean growth.

Because part of the reason why the UK is considered a leader in tackling climate change, is that we don’t just see it as a problem to be solved…

We see it is an opportunity, too.

So, by focusing on clean growth, we are presented with a win-win situation…

We can cut the cost of energy…

Drive economic growth…

Create high value jobs right across the UK…

And improve our quality of life.

This is precisely what our Clean Growth Strategy is about.

You will see a list of 50 major policies and plans in the Strategy Document today, with many supporting ones in the text behind them, and when implemented there will be real change

To give you just a few examples:

For businesses, the largest pool of contributors to emissions, we will help them improve how they use their energy, aiming to increase their energy productivity by at least twenty per cent by 2030, saving businesses £6 billion…

…we will establish an industrial energy efficiency scheme to help large companies cut their bills…

…and we will demonstrate international leadership in carbon capture, usage and storage, that we need to decarbonise and improve how we do business, including substantial new investment in leading edge innovation.

Our strategy will make a positive change to how we live.

We will make it easier for homeowners to make home improvements that can reduce their energy use…

…we will invest around £3.6 billion to upgrade around a million homes through the Energy Company Obligation by 2020, and extend that support to 2028…

…we will continue to support RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive)…

… we will work towards our aspiration that every home in the country will be rated Energy Performance Certificate as Band C by 2035…

And we will aim to upgrade as many private rented homes as possible where practical and affordable – helping many of those living in severe fuel poverty.

And, our Clean Growth Strategy will change the way we travel and make our air cleaner.

We have already said and reconfirm today we will end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040…

…it will invest £1 billion supporting the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles, including helping consumers to overcome the upfront cost of an electric car…

…and we will make sure that those cars are powered by developing one of the best electric vehicle charging networks in the world.

Indeed you may have seen the hydrogen bus outside and we will continue to support different types of low carbon transport.

I get asked all the time – so what’s the magic bullet today?

And my answer is – we don’t have one. There is no one lever we can pull.

Instead we go through every major part of our economy and every part of government to set out ways to cut the emissions and drive innovation

Whether that’s investing in research and innovation for energy efficiency…

Or building new heat networks across the country to drive down the cost of keeping homes warm…

Whatever it takes, we are determined to make a difference.

And any set of actions that hopes to combat climate change has to cover all parts of the economy

And be focused on the next few decades, not the next few years, that is why the Clean Growth Strategy is a Strategy.

It has far-reaching goals and priorities, and sets the scene for other long-term plans government will be bringing forward like the upcoming 25 year plan from my colleagues at DEFRA, the DfT’s Road to Zero and our Industrial Strategy and its Sector Deals.

Our message is clear: this needs to be a priority for our government and the country for the years ahead, for future generations and not just us today.

And now is the right time to make these decisions because the benefits are huge.

The most recent research shows that the UK’s low carbon economy could grow over 10 to 12 per cent per year up to 2030 – four times faster than the growth of the UK economy as a whole.

By that estimate that would mean – in just 13 years – the UK’s low carbon economy would support up to 2 million more jobs and export up to £170bn low carbon goods and services each year.

And I’m not just talking about jobs in London and the South East…

This impact will be felt all over the country. We’ve already seen this happen, whether it’s the Siemens wind turbine blade factory in Hull or Nissan confirming that their Leaf electric car will be produced in Sunderland.

Like I said: a win-win situation right across the country, one that we are exploiting.

You may ask: what is different about this plan?

Well, it focuses areas of action where we get clear joint benefits:

cleaner air from low emissions vehicles…

…lower energy bills from improved energy efficiency…

… reducing waste and using resources efficiently…

…and creating a more biodiverse, resilient natural environment.

It is also a true cross-government approach – with real actions from buildings to transport, and from the natural environment to power generation.

And at the heart of our Strategy is a targeted focus on innovation.

Because I fundamentally believe that it is only through innovation that we can bring down the costs of low carbon technologies.

We want low carbon to mean low cost.

Because we need low cost to protect our businesses and households from high costs, including energy costs.

But – just as important – if we can develop the low cost, low carbon technologies here, we can capture the industrial and economic advantage from the global transition we are starting to see.

Finally, if we want to see other countries, particularly developing countries, follow our lead, we need low carbon technologies to be cheap.

So we have a new triple test to help us decide how to support new technologies:

First, does this deliver maximum carbon emission reduction?

Second, can we see a clear cost reduction pathway for this technology, so we can deliver low cost solutions?

And third, can the UK develop world-leading technology in a sizeable global market?

Of course, we can’t predict every technological breakthrough – if we’d have done that a few years ago, we would have been wrong – and not all of the choices we make will be the right ones.

That is the nature of working with such fast moving technologies.

But we are determined to create the best possible ecosystem for the private sector to invest and innovate.

If we get it right, we can see the benefits, just as we have on offshore wind, and the remarkable cost reduction we have seen where the costs have plummeted 50 percent in just two years.

And we have installed the biggest offshore wind base in the world.

To achieve these sorts of wins going forward and deliver the clean growth we need, it will require everyone to play their part.

This is not a job for central government alone.

It is a job for our devolved nations, local authorities, businesses and civil society working together; ambition and drive from every part of society and government is as important as diktats from Whitehall.

That is why we are delighted to celebrate in our document some of the amazing work that is taking place across the country.

And it is why we are setting up an annual ‘Green Great Britain’ Week, to celebrate the progress we have made, showcase UK technology and leadership, and inspire and motivate us to keep going, no matter the challenges, to deliver low carbon technology.

To meet our goals, we are going to need the full ingenuity, enterprise and determination of the British people working together.

So that answers the second question as to why we are here today.

Because we want to capture the spirit of cooperation and enterprise that gave us such an amazing performance at the 2012 Olympics from Team GB…

And use it to deliver a Green GB…

There won’t be medals on offer…

But the prize for all of us will be driving and capturing the benefits and opportunities for Britain and the world of our low carbon future.

I think that’s a race we all want to win.

Thank you.

read more

Sukhjit Sohal Singh, who was director of temporary staff employment agency Phoenix Midlands Ltd, has been disqualified for seven years for failing to adhere to licencing standards.

He signed a Disqualification Undertaking which bans him from acting as a company director or from managing, or in any way controlling, a limited company from 5 September 2017 until 4 September 2024.

Singh was a director of Phoenix Midlands Limited, a temporary employment agency that went into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation on 13 November 2015 owing £841,566 to creditors.

Between 13 June 2013 and at least 5 February 2015, Singh failed to ensure that Phoenix Midlands Limited complied with Licensing Standards set out by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), the regulatory body. In particular, he was deemed “not fit and proper” to hold a GLA licence, as he not been candid and truthful in all dealings with them. In addition, he had not demonstrated a readiness and willingness to comply with the requirements and standards of the regulatory system and with other legal, regulatory and professional requirements and standards. The GLA licence was therefore revoked.

Aldona O’Hara, Chief Investigator of Insolvent Investigations Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said:

When directors of a company do not comply with legislation that is designed to protect employees, and avoidable losses result, the Insolvency Service will fully investigate the circumstances and take action where appropriate.

These disqualifications send a clear message that exploitation of vulnerable workers will not be tolerated.

Notes to editors

Sukhjit Sohal Singh’s date of birth is November 1975 and he currently resides at Rowley Regis, West Midlands.

Phoenix Midlands Limited (CRO No. 08567826) was incorporated on 13 June 2013 and traded from Suite 508C, Hawthorns Business Centre, Halfords Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands, B66 1BB

Sukhjit Sohal Singh was appointed director from 13 June 2013 to 13 November 2015 (the date of Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation).

The seven year Disqualification Undertaking was accepted by the Secretary of State on 15 August 2017 and commenced on 5 September 2017.

The matter of unfitness, which Singh was found to have been in breach of were:

• Between 13 June 2013 and at least 05 February 2015,he failed to ensure that Phoenix Midlands Limited adhered to Licensing Standards as provided for by the Gang-Masters (Licensing Authority) regulations 2005.
• Singh was the sole appointed director of PML from 13 June 2013 (the date of incorporation) to 13 November 2015 (when Phoenix entered Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation). The company commenced trading as of 11 December 2013 supplying temporary workers.
• On 26 June 2013, Phoenix applied for a gangmasters licence and on 11 October 2013 a license was granted with two additional licence conditions.
• On 05 February 2014, a compliance inspection was conducted by officers of the GLA. A report dated 14 March 2014, stated that Singh was deemed as being not “fit and proper” to hold a GLA licence as Phoenix was in critical breach of several licensing standards. The breaches referred to the following:

1. Singh had not been candid and truthful in all dealings with the regulatory body (GLA) and he had not demonstrated a readiness and willingness to comply with the requirements and standards of the regulatory system and with other legal, regulatory and professional requirements and standards;
2. he had been influenced by a third party who the GLA considered not to be “fit and proper”;
3. he did not have sufficient understanding of the GLA Licensing standards and/’or has sufficient management processes;
4. The company was not registered with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in respect of income tax and National Insurance;
5. PAYE/NIC had not been calculated and deducted from the workers wages which was a direct contravention of the licensing standards requirement of HMRC.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.
Media enquiries

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

read more

• President of the Board of Trade Dr Liam Fox convenes the new Board of Trade today in Bristol
• First meeting attended by leaders from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Advisers from across the United Kingdom present, providing local expertise to guide the Board on trade and investment matters

Chloe Smith MP attended UK Government’s new Board of Trade, which aims to help boost exports, attract inward investors and ensure the benefits of free trade are spread across the country.

The Board of Trade will bring together prominent figures from business and politics from each part of the UK, including representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In 2016/17 UK Government helped to attract 34 Foreign Direct Investment projects to Northern Ireland, which created a total of 1,622 new jobs and safeguarded almost 1,000 more. On top of this, more than 600 companies in Northern Ireland have been able to access a wealth of opportunities by attending overseas trade shows, carrying out crucial market research and developing vital international relationships.

One of the many success stories has been Northern Ireland manufacturer, BlueMAC. BlueMAC have seen their annual turnover increase by 50 per cent since beginning exporting three years ago, securing deals in the UAE, Australia, France and China.

After experiencing widespread success in the UK, BlueMAC decided to broaden their scope and explore international markets. Identifying a gap in the market for advanced waste and recycling technology in the UAE, the company embarked on a trade mission to Dubai, supported by the Department for International Trade (DIT).

BlueMAC met DIT International Trade Advisers (ITAs) who provided advice on upcoming local projects and market research, introduced the company to in-country distributors and helped with lead generation.

Chris Brooke, Global Sales Engineer, BlueMAC said:

Exporting has been a huge learning curve for us and the support we received from ITAs was invaluable.

Initially we didn’t have an understanding of market culture and we soon realised that not every market works the same way as the UK, we received important strategic advice on ways of working and local differences, it saved us a lot of time and money.

Chloe Smith MP, NIO Minister said:

Northern Ireland continues to be an attractive place to do business with inward investment projects secured across the year, creating over 1,600 new jobs and safeguarding almost 1,000 more.

The Board is another crucial step towards helping Northern Ireland businesses make their mark on the global stage and shows the UK Government is committed to working with all parts of the United Kingdom in ensuring we deliver an economy that works for everyone.

President of the Board of Trade, Dr Fox, has also invited advisers from across the United Kingdom, including Mark Nodder CEO of Ballymena’s Wright Group, to provide local expertise and guide the Board on trade and investment matters.

The Board of Trade will meet four times a year with meetings rotated around the UK guaranteeing all parts of the union have a chance to raise the issues most important to them.

read more

I’m delighted to be speaking here at the 2017 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) conference. I hardly need to tell you what an important time this is for higher education in the UK.

Over the coming year, we will be putting into action the wide-ranging reforms set out in the Higher Education and Research Act (HERA).

Next year will see the launch of the Office for Students (OfS), which will take up the regulatory baton that HEFCE has borne for the past 25 years. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Madeleine, Tim, and all the staff of HEFCE for their service.

The birth of the OfS will mean the establishment of a new regulatory regime, with a strong focus on accountability, value for money and the student interest.

Our work to implement the HERA will also bring into existence a new national strategic funding agency, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

This is an important time for research in the UK as we put science and innovation at the heart of our industrial strategy and it is on this vital area that I want to focus today.

We have made a significant commitment as a Government to increasing the amount of R&D the UK undertakes as a country.

Last year there was a £4.7bn increase by 2020/2021 we announced in the 2016 Autumn Statement, itself the largest increase to public R&D for 40 years.

Meeting the new target will not be possible without the concerted efforts of Government, businesses, charitable funders and of course our brilliant researchers, not just the homegrown talent but critically also those who have been drawn here from all over the world.

And this is what I would like to speak about today.

It goes without saying that UK universities are renowned for the quality of their research. Indeed, today the government is publishing analysis by Elsevier that shows that the UK continues to punch above its weight as a research superpower.

In particular, the research shows that although the UK represents just 0.9% of the world’s population, we account for 9.9% of downloaded academic articles, 10.7% of citations and 15.2% of the world’s most highly-cited articles.

Relative to its comparator countries, the UK continues to rank number one Field-Weighted Citation Impact. This shows the vital importance of funding curiosity-driven research. It is something to be proud of and to protect.

But high quality publications do not by themselves guarantee impact in the world at large. Nor is there a simple, linear relationship between academic excellence and economic growth.

If the research that goes on in our universities is to have the greatest possible impact, our universities need to be deeply connected to the wider world. This is an important challenge for universities in any advanced economy.

But it is particularly important in the UK, because of the outsize role our universities play in our research and innovation system.

Over half of the money the UK taxpayer provides for R&D goes to the Higher Education sector – £4.8bn out of £8.8bn in 2015.

The result is that a far greater proportion of R&D – 26% – takes place in our universities – than in comparable countries, with 20% in France, 17% in Germany, 13% in the US and 12% in Japan.

This funding arrangement has helped ensure the excellence of British universities and their strong performance in international league tables, which give a heavy weighting to research.

But the fact that by international standards an unusually large proportion of our R&D activity takes place within our universities brings with it increased responsibilities.

Because they loom so large in our research ecosystem, it is particularly important that our universities engage with the wider world, and help to ensure that their work leads to wider economic and social benefits.

Today I would like to focus on two ways in which universities can help us achieve our ambitious goal: knowledge exchange, and international engagement.

Improving knowledge exchange

Universities’ engagement with the wider world takes many forms.

Public attention often focuses on technology transfer, intellectual property (IP) licensing and high-tech spin-outs, but these are far from the only way universities contribute to innovation and growth.

Collaborative and contract research conducted with businesses, consultancy, training, and broader partnerships with businesses and with civil society are every bit as important.

And of course, most universities play an important local economic role, whether by participating in economic development efforts, in skills development or by acting as hubs for businesses.

The analysis of the 2016 Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HEBCI) survey, which HEFCE is publishing today, shows that this wider economic engagement is growing more slowly than the economy as a whole, at 1 per cent, and from a low base. It is also highly uneven, with parts of the country benefitting from it more than others.

Comparisons of our commercialisation activity with that of the US are revealing.

We require about £5m more research spending to generate each new spin-off than the US does. And US higher education institutions earn almost 40% more IP licence income as a percentage of research resources than those in the UK

This is income that can be ploughed back into research in a virtuous cycle of scientific discovery and innovation. I see the evidence of this collaboration on the ground. Examples such as the collaboration between the University of Lincoln, Lincoln College and Siemens which is inspiring a new generation of engineering and scientific talent in the region. Or the decision by McLaren to site their new factory in Sheffield in order to collaborate with Sheffield University Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

But the system as a whole needs to find a new gear.

The University of Queensland on Australia’s Gold Coast is one institution we could learn from. Its long-established tech transfer subsidiary, Uniquest, helps it generate over AUS$30m a year from IP – more than any Russell Group university.

The rewards to good knowledge exchange can be very great: New York University earned more from Remicade, its blockbuster arthritis drug, in a year, than all UK universities put together.

Britain has had its home run successes too: consider the £64m that the Institute for Cancer Research made form licensing last year, or the University of Surrey’s development of Surrey Satellite Technologies. But I would like to see these successes, and the wide range of business links that underpin them, become more common.

If we are to meet our national goals to increase R&D, we will need to continue to deepen these forms of engagement. Demonstrating this engagement and the associated economic impact will be important in making the case to the public and within government that increased public investment in research is justified.

We are taking a number of steps to drive engagement.

Increased weighting for impact in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Impact

I welcome the decisions that HEFCE and HE funding bodies have taken to place greater emphasis in the next REF exercise on the impact of research – increasing weighting for impact to 25%).

Science & Innovation Audits are also helping to deepen the relationships between universities and their wider communities. Across the country, I have seen that the SIA process has not just identified the relationships between universities and their local partners, but helped define and strengthen them.

For example, the SIA for the Edinburgh City Region has helped them to develop a successful bid realising £300m in funding for data driven innovation. This maximises the opportunities afforded by the world class research base and will exploit the wide range of technologies being pioneered across the city region.

So, today I’m also announcing Wave 3 of SIAs – twelve more areas selected to map their local research, innovation and infrastructure strengths. As before, this round of SIAs will examine strengths in a number of sectors and disciplines, across the UK – from the Marine Economy in Scotland to Nuclear in the North West.

As before, this round of SIAs will be taken forward as collaborations between, universities, businesses and other institutions such as Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Measuring and funding knowledge exchange

One of the most powerful tools for increasing engagement has been our investment in Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF). HEIF underpins knowledge exchange and tech transfer capabilities and supports skills development and entrepreneurship.

It provides universities with the resources needed to invest in partnerships: from developing tech transfer offices, to helping ease the movement of staff between academia and businesses. Many of the most important collaborative projects in England were enabled by HEIF. That is why we are providing an additional £40m a year for Higher Education Innovation Funding to help support commercialisation, taking the total to £200 million for 2017-18.

In addition, we are also encouraging universities to collaborate on the commercialisation of research and working with business. HEFCE launched a £100m Connecting Capability Fund in April, and today I am also pleased to announce the first four funding projects, which will collectively receive just under £20m.

• The first project is a collaboration between a group of universities in the East of England – Essex, UEA, and Kent – which aims to address the region’s productivity challenges by supporting company development and entrepreneurial skills growth.

• The second project is a collaboration between a group of HEIs in the North of England – Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield – which aims to establish an investment fund to improve access to finance for university spinouts.

• The third is an extension of an existing collaboration between a group of universities in the South of England – the SET squared partnership – which aims to better support SMEs as they scale-up.

• The fourth is a collaboration between a group of universities and research institutes across the UK – Oxford, Birmingham, Dundee, and the Francis Crick Institute – which aims to support the development of new therapeutics to tackle age-related diseases.

Given the importance of knowledge exchange to the national mission of universities, I believe there is a strong case for doing more to measure how good a job universities are doing and to link funding more directly to such an assessment.

It is noteworthy that the UK university system has public frameworks to track two of the missions of universities – the REF for research and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) for teaching outcomes – but nothing for the third mission of knowledge exchange and engagement.

Since its introduction under a different name in the 1980s, the Research Excellence Framework has become a familiar part of the higher education landscape, playing a vital role in ensuring we fund only excellent science.

And the more recently introduced Teaching Excellence Framework, entering its third year, is already, as Universities UK’s (UUK) recent poll shows, acting as a powerful incentive on universities to focus on teaching quality and student outcomes

I am keen to explore what more we can do to evaluate the extent of knowledge exchange, engagement, collaboration and commercialisation – the impact that universities are having on the economy – and to recognise which of our universities are leading the way.

I see a key role for an enhanced performance assessment in creating a constructive competitive dynamic between institutions that incentivises them to make the most of opportunities they have for knowledge exchange.

We have the building blocks for such an assessment with the work undertaken by the knowledge exchange steering group led by Professor Trevor McMillan and considerable amounts of relevant data are already gathered, not least through the HEBCI survey and the HEIF process.

And there is evidence that there is excellent practice on knowledge exchange throughout the system: from Russell Group universities like Oxford and Leeds to newer institutions like Anglia Ruskin and Hertfordshire.

But at present this information is hard to access. And it is not weighted to reflect the differences in size and research income between different institutions. Therefore it does not have the impact it might in terms of identifying outperformance and underperformance.

With this in mind, I will be asking Research England within UKRI, working with the OfS, to consult with the sector and advise on the development of a new, public Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), that brings together a comprehensive range of measures of impact from collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Our ambition is that the new KEF will become an important public indicator of how good a job universities are doing at discharging their third mission, just as the REF rewards excellence in research and the TEF rewards excellence in teaching and student outcomes.

This will enable universities to benchmark and develop their own performance, and will increase universities’ accountability to taxpayers, local government and businesses.

Increasing HEIF

Alongside better data on knowledge exchange, there is also a case for greater investment that is directly linked to institutional performance in terms of knowledge exchange and tech transfer.

I am struck whenever I visit universities by the impressive initiatives and ventures that have been enabled by HEIF funding.

The University of Central Lancashire, which established its Centre for SME Development in 2016, is a case in point. Its first annual report showed that it had interacted with more than 500 Lancashire SMEs. Its current funded business support projects for SMEs are worth almost £10m and are set to reach almost 1,000 SMEs in the region.

Or take Reading University, which is investing in a new inter-disciplinary Centre for Food, Nutrition and Health. This will extend its relationships with the agri-food industry, enabling it to deliver research, innovation and education that addresses their needs and contributes to economic growth in the sector.

I believe it is possible to do more. We have already reiterated the important contribution that HEIF is playing to the delivery of our Industrial Strategy through the £40m pa uplift taking HEIF to £200m in 2017-18. The Witty Review recognised the critical role of HEIF and recommended increasing funding to £250m pa and I am keen that we take steps to do so.

In addition, I am asking UKRI and Research England to consider the right balance between HEIF and quality-related (QR) funding – so that as we give recognition to the vital role that universities must play in their engagement with others in the UK economy, we do not lose sight of the need to support curiosity-driven science that has no immediate commercial goals.

This is not just because the pursuit of knowledge is the hallmark of a civilised society, and a good thing in and of itself, but because unanticipated scientific breakthroughs can turn out to be even more valuable than the outcomes of agenda-driven research.

I believe this stronger commitment to knowledge exchange and engagement will give universities the confidence they need to set ambitious plans and bold partnerships – benefitting national and local economies, and society at large.

International engagement

The second aspect of deeper engagement I would like to discuss is engagement with the wider world. Today’s Elsevier report shows the remarkable global reach of UK research. It shows that over 51% of all UK publications in 2017 were co-authored, highlighting that UK researchers are highly collaborative internationally. The only other comparator country to surpass the UK was France, ahead of the UK by just 0.3 percentage points. And the UK’s share of international co-authorship has increased annually from 2010.

Importantly, internationally co-authored articles are generally associated with a higher field-weighted citation impact. Continuing to work with international partners is critical – our research strength and our innovation have been built upon a history of collaboration.

As the Government set out in its recent paper, we will be seeking an ambitious science and innovation agreement with the EU – one that continues high levels of collaboration with European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives.

In her Florence speech, the PM set out the UK’s commitment to developing the deep and special relationship we have with Europe. She said “We may be leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe”. Continuing with – and building on – our collaboration with our European partners will remain critical to our long-term economic development. So, we have made our intentions clear in this area.

We want to remain a player in European science, research and innovation programmes. And we will continue to attract the best talent from across the world, including the EU.

The UK will continue to welcome the brightest and best from across the world, including the EU. The UK will remain a hub for international research and innovation talent.

So, we will continue to increase our levels of international engagement on science research and innovation. Not just with Europe, but across the world.

For example, UK-US collaborations have resulted in 26 Nobel prizes for science and economics. Nearly 14% of the UK’s internationally co-authored papers are with the US, almost double the next nearest country – Germany. And the UK is the number one destination for US R&D company investment outside of the US, accounting for over 10% of US foreign R&D investment.

That’s why, last month I signed the first formal Science and Technology Agreement with the US, providing a framework for UK institutions to collaborate on joint scientific research and technology programmes with the US.

We recently agreed to invest £65m in our ongoing partnership with the United States on the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will probe fundamental questions about the nature of matter and the evolution of the universe.

Alongside this, we have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canada which will strengthen bilateral cooperation in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. The MOU kicks off work to build lasting partnerships between our science and innovation agencies, and will initially focus opportunities in the fields of quantum technology, clean technology, agri-tech, and advanced manufacturing. But we don’t want to stop there – this is a model that we are keen to repeat with other countries to further expand and enhance our global partnerships.

And that’s why I’m pleased to announce that Government is investing an additional £18m in the Rutherford Fund this year in 2017/18 to attract the brightest research talent to the UK. This builds on the £100m that we have already committed to Rutherford over the next 4 years.

This new funding will enable more than 200 additional significant fellowships to start in the current financial year, at our world class institutions, including at the Crick and the Turing Institutions, at UK museums, at the British Academy and at UK universities. It also includes 50 Commonwealth Fellowships.

Our ongoing investment in talent will help to reinforce the UK as the go-to country for innovation and discovery.

Reinforcing the importance of the humanities and social sciences, £5m of this global talent funding is through the British Academy’s flagship Post-Doctoral fellowship scheme with leading universities – delivered alongside a further £5m to support and develop domestic research talent.

Conclusion

So, Science, Research and Innovation are central to our industrial strategy and will be critical to the UK economy in the future – it improves our productivity, the economy and helps people prosper across the country. Universities’ engagement and collaboration with others – domestically and internationally – is now more important now than ever and I and other Ministers in this Government, through our industrial strategy, will be doing everything we can to support them.

Thank you

read more

Jo Hickman and Gareth Hughes have been appointed to the Civil Justice Council (CJC) from 30 September 2017 to 29 September 2020, whilst Andrew Parker and William Wood have been reappointed from 11 September 2017 to 10 September 2020.

Jo Hickman is currently the Director of the Public Law Project (PLP). Previously, she was Head of Casework at PLP and a solicitor at Fisher Meredith LLP. In both roles, she managed active public law and judicial review caseloads.

Between 2002 and 2005, Jo was a caseworker at Refugee Legal Centre, representing asylum claimants in the Oakington fast-track. She is a member of a member of the Law Society Access to Justice Committee, and a Management Committee member and Treasurer of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.

Gareth Hughes is the Chief Executive of Marston Holdings. From 2010 – 2012, he was the Deputy Chief Executive of Marston Holdings. Gareth was the Commercial and Finance Director of Marston Holdings, from 2007 – 2010. He was a Corporate Finance Executive at Old Mutual Securities from 2000 to 2002. Gareth was also a Financial Services Executive at KPMG.

CJC is responsible for keeping the civil justice system under review, advising on change and procedural reform and considering how to make the system more accessible, fair and efficient.

These appointments and reappointments have been made in line with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.

read more