Equity interest requirement removed from new £800m taxpayer-funded research agency
Proposals to create a new taxpayer-backed £800m research agency have been considered further by MPs.
The Government wants the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) to focus on “high-risk, high-reward” research to explore new ideas while having “strategic and cultural” independence and the freedom to fail.
The House of Lords had supported an amendment which aimed to ensure Aria secures an equity interest in any business or project it funds.
Companies that received backing would also be required for 10 years to secure the organisation’s approval to transfer intellectual property (IP) rights abroad or agree a takeover by a foreign firm under the Lords amendment.
But the House of Commons voted 304 votes to 208, majority 96, to remove the amendment from the Bill.
Business minister George Freeman said the Government acknowledged the point of the amendment, noting: “It is our firm belief that whilst it’s not appropriate at this stage in legislation to specify Aria’s contracting and granting arrangements to be spelled out, we do recognise the importance and substance of the concerns that underlie this amendment – namely Aria should have a duty to the taxpayer to ensure it’s not haemorrhaging intellectual property of value to the UK.”
The Bill will now return to the Lords for further scrutiny and is close to clearing Parliament.