Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill 2021-22: Lords amendments and ‘ping-pong’ stages

What does the Bill aim to do?

The Bill seeks to establish a new research funding agency specifically aimed at providing long-term support for “high-risk, high-pay off” “blue-skies research”. In the March 2020 Budget, the Chancellor announced that the UK Government would invest “at least £800 million” in this new agency as part of the Government’s wider commitment to increase public research and development (R&D) funding to £22bn by 2024-25 and increase overall UK spending on R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.

As introduced, the Bill does several things:

• First, it establishes the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) as a statutory corporation;
• Second, it sets out ARIA’s functions. These are focused on both conducting “ambitious” scientific research with a tolerance to failure, and on developing, exploiting and sharing scientific knowledge, such as translating basic scientific research into more commercial technologies;
• Third, the Bill enables the Secretary of State to make grants to ARIA and provide it with funding.

Progress of the Bill through the House of Commons and House of Lords

Commons

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) Bill, 2019-21 and 2021-22 [Bill 264], was introduced in the Commons on 2 March 2021 and had its second reading on 23 March 2021 where it passed without a vote.

The committee stage ran from 14 to 22 April 2021, across six sittings. None of the 25 Opposition amendments moved during the committee stage were successful. The report stage and third reading of the Bill took place on 7 June 2021, in the new (2021-22) Parliamentary session.  Three amendments were moved to a vote, all were defeated, and the Bill was reported without amendment. The Bill was read for a third time on the same day and passed without a vote.

Lords

The Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 2 November 2021 and passed without a vote. The House of Lords committee stage had two sittings on the 17 and 22 November 2021 and the Lords report stage was held on 14 December 2021. Two, non-Government amendments were pushed to a vote; one was agreed while the other was defeated. The third reading of the Bill took place on 10 January 2022 and it passed without a vote.

The Commons considered the Lords amendments on 31 January 2022 and the Bill returned to the House of Lords for consideration of Commons amendments on 9 February 2022.

Full background on the Bill and an overview of its progress through the Commons can be found in the Commons Library briefing on the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill 2019-21 and 2021-22.

Lords committee stage

In the two House of Lords committee stage sittings, no amendments were pushed to a vote and no non-Government amendments were added to the Bill. Two amendments made to the Bill by the Government were in response to the Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee’s report on the Bill. Clause 10 (Power to make consequential provision) was removed from the Bill, on the grounds that it was too broad. Instead, a narrower provision was introduced as part of Clause 8 (Power to dissolve ARIA).

Due to the amendments, consequential amendments could now only be made that related to regulations made under Clause 8, rather than any provision of the Bill (as initially permitted under Clause 10).

Lords report stage and third reading

At the report stage, two, non-Government, amendments were pushed to a vote. Amendment 1 to Clause 2 aimed to give ARIA a financial stake in the businesses that it funds, together with a 10-year veto on both foreign acquisitions of the funded business or selling the businesses’ intellectual property abroad. Amendment 1 was agreed on a vote (166 Content, 153 Not Content).

Amendment 6 to Clause 2 would subject ARIA to Freedom of Information requests. It was defeated by 126 Content votes to 134 Not Content.

A non-Government amendment seeking to remove a power to pay pensions and gratuities to non-executive ARIA members was agreed without a vote.

The Bill was read for the third time on 10 January 2022 and passed following a minor, technical amendment by the Government.

Lords amendments to the ARIA Bill, for consideration by the Commons, are available at: HCB 224 without endorsement .fm (parliament.uk) (opens PDF).

‘Ping-Pong’: Consideration of Lords and Commons amendments

The term “ping-pong” refers to the to and fro of amendments to Bills between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

On 31 January 2022, the House of Commons considered amendments made in the House of Lords.  The Government amendments made in the House of Lords, during the committee stage, were all agreed without a division (vote). The non-Government amendment, to remove a power to pay pensions and gratuities to non-executive ARIA members, made during the Lords report stage, was also supported by the Government and agreed without a division. Lords amendment 1 (giving ARIA a financial stake in the businesses that it funds) was disagreed following a division (Ayes 304, Noes 208).

The Bill returned to the House of Lords for consideration of Commons amendments on 9 February 2022. The Lords agreed to the Commons rejection of Amendment 1.

The Bill received Royal Assent on 24 February 2022, meaning it is now an Act of Parliament, the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022.