Chair comments on use of Ministerial Direction for purchase of stake in satellite firm
22 July 2020
Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, has commented today on the Government's public announcement on the issuing of a Ministerial Direction by Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) to Sam Beckett, Permanent Under-Secretary of State at DBEIS in relation to the purchase of a stake in satellite firm OneWeb.
- Letter on OneWeb from Sam Beckett, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, DBEIS to the Chair
- Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee
Letters published by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Letter to the Secretary of State from Sam Beckett, Acting Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer
- Letter to Sam Beckett, Acting Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer from the Secretary of State
A BEIS Committee evidence hearing examining the Government's purchase of a stake in OneWeb, and with questions to the Department, will take place in September (full witness list - tbc).
Chair's comments
Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said:
“The Secretary of State's use of a Ministerial Direction to push through the purchase of a stake in OneWeb against the advice of his own Permanent Secretary heightens concerns around this investment and about the prospects of this delivering UK jobs and value for taxpayers' money. It also prompts further questions about how the Government arrived at this decision and how it came to plump for this largely US-based bankrupt satellite company.
“It's important the Government invests in technology which can bring benefits to UK manufacturing, to future domestic research and development, and, in this case, can deliver on the Government's commitment to UK-manufactured sovereign capability in satellite technology. When the Government is signalling a willingness to invest in these kinds of projects, it's important they show more transparency around the rationale for these investment decisions so they can be properly scrutinised and judgements can be made on whether they are likely to be a good deal for taxpayers and in the interests of our technology and skills base and of UK manufacturing.
“Now more than ever, the Government needs to ensure that it's spending tax-payers money as prudently and wisely as possible. Using nearly half a billion pounds of tax-payers money to gamble on a ‘commercial opportunity' whilst still failing to support manufacturing jobs with a sector deal is both troubling and concerning.”
Sam Beckett, Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy wrote to Darren Jones, BEIS Committee Chair, on 8th July about the use of a Ministerial Decision in relation to OneWeb and asked the Committee to treat the matter as confidential until commercial partners had been informed of the intention to publish.
Further information
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