Higher Education and Research Bill — Clause 95 — Secretary of State's Power to Give Directions Related to Research Funding — 21 Nov 2016 at 21:06

The majority of MPs voted against requiring the Secretary of State to consult with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolved administrations before giving directions to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the body which distributes £6m of public research and innovation funding.

MPs were considering the Higher Education and Research Bill[1].

The amendment rejected in this vote was:

  • Amendment 56, page 59, line 45, at end insert—
  • “(6) In giving direction to UKRI, the Secretary of State must act in the best interests of all constituent parts of the United Kingdom and, before giving such direction, must consult on research and innovation policies and their priorities with the following—
  • (a) the Scottish Government,
  • (b) the Welsh Government, and
  • (c) the Northern Ireland Executive.
  • (7) Before giving any direction to UKRI under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must seek agreement to the terms of that direction from—
  • (a) the Scottish Government,
  • (b) the Welsh Government, and
  • (c) the Northern Ireland Executive.”

The rejected amendment was accompanied by the following explanatory note:

  • This amendment would place a duty on the Secretary of State such that before giving directions to the UKRI in regards to research priorities, the Secretary of State must consult the devolved administrations.

Clause 95 of the Bill as at the time of the vote began:

  • The Secretary of State may give UKRI directions about the allocation or

expenditure by UKRI of grants ...

The rejected amendment would have added the additional subclauses relating to such directions.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) replaces the Research Councils and also takes on Innovate UK and the research funding from Higher Education Funding Council for England.[3]

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Debate in Parliament |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con275 (+2 tell) 0084.5%
DUP0 4050.0%
Green0 10100.0%
Independent0 30100.0%
Lab0 169072.8%
LDem0 3037.5%
PC0 2066.7%
SDLP0 2066.7%
SNP0 33 (+2 tell)064.8%
Total:275 217077.5%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
no rebellions

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