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Hello and welcome to April’s Policy and Government Affairs Update from ADS. Having taken over the role of Interim Director of Government Affairs, Media & Comms last month, the past few weeks have certainly not been a quiet start.
Firstly, as we feature below, we are delighted to have the announcement of an uplift in funding for the ATI, made by the Government last week, and for the programme to reopen for applications. This is a strong public show of confidence for the UK aerospace sector from the Government. We are looking forward to seeing the projects supported by this funding across our membership in the months ahead.
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It was great for us to see so many familiar faces in person again as both Security & Policing (S&P) and the ADS Annual Dinner returned following the pandemic. Both events were strongly supported by political guests, with several Ministerial appearances at S&P including a first visit by the Home Secretary, and we were delighted to host Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in Westminster and the UK’s devolved administrations at the Annual Dinner.
The team have plenty of events and engagements planned for the coming weeks and months. As always, we hope you find this update useful and if you have been forwarded this by a colleague, you can sign up to receive this monthly update.
Enjoy the coming Easter break.
Alex Hamilton
Interim Director of Government Affairs, Media & Comms
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Security & Policing, the official UK Government global security event, celebrated a successful in-person return to Farnborough for its 40th anniversary last month. This year’s event welcomed over 6,000 attendees, including visitors and delegations from 73 countries, over 300 leading industry exhibitors (including 98 ADS members), and a record 30 participating Government and law enforcement departments and agencies.
For the first time in 14 years, Security & Policing welcomed the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, on the show’s opening day for a packed keynote address and to meet with attendees across the show. The opening morning also saw attendees fill the keynote briefing room to hear from Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, Minister for Security and Borders, and Exports Minister Mike Freer MP toured the exhibition to see first-hand all the innovative products on display.
On day two we were delighted to welcome back Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP, Minister for Crime, Policing and Probation, for his second visit to the event and another popular keynote session. The final day saw more political visits from International Trade Secretary Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP and Ranil Jayawardena MP, Minister for International Trade. CEO Kevin Craven held discussions with many of the political attendees across the week around the importance of ADS sectors to the UK’s prosperity and security, as well as their contribution to the UK’s export agenda.
You can read a full summary of the event, plus find out more about Security and Policing 2023, on our website.
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National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh
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First published in 2017, the National Shipbuilding Strategy outlined ambitions to transform naval procurement, securing export and design contracts for British naval ships. Last month, the Government published its National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, which outlines the Government’s further ambitions to reinvigorate the whole British shipbuilding industry.
The Refresh aims to deliver a pipeline of more than 150 new naval and civil vessels for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations over the next 30 years. The £4 billion of investment allocated in the Strategy will go towards supporting shipyards and suppliers across the UK, with new measures including better access to finance, skills-building, and funding for research and development into greener vessels and infrastructure.
Commenting on the new National Shipbuilding Strategy, ADS Chief Executive Kevin Craven said:
"Shipbuilding is an important part of the UK Defence industry and supports more than 1,000 SME organisations. The 30-year pipeline of Government vessels including eight Type 26 and five Type 31 frigates, supports industry and its advanced maritime capabilities and enables the development of advanced technologies as well as levelling up local economies and communities.
"ADS looks forward to working with the new National Shipbuilding Office, the Ministry of Defence and relevant departments, and our members to deliver its ambitions and plans."
You can read ADS’ summary of the refresh in our Members Area.
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ADS was delighted to welcome members, VIP guests and colleagues from across the aerospace, defence, security, and space sectors to our Annual Dinner last month. ADS hosted over 30 political guests for an enjoyable evening of food, networking, and entertainment. Having had to move the 2021 Dinner online due to the pandemic, this year’s Dinner was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the value of our sectors to key stakeholders, giving them the chance to network with industry.
In his speech to open the Dinner, ADS President Julian Whitehead described some of the major challenges and opportunities for our sectors in the year ahead, and we were also pleased to present a preview of this July’s Aerospace Global Forum to take place at Farnborough International Airshow.
If you missed the event, you can catch up with our new ADS 2022 Priorities video.
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What we have been reading this month
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Please find below some useful articles, reports, and analysis from think tanks and other policy organisations that the ADS PEPAM team have been reading over the past month:
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Government announces ATI uplift in funding
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Last week, the UK Government announced new funding for the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), a key research institution that has led on developing and growing the projects that will lead to greener, cleaner flying. The additional funding for the ATI totals £685 million from Government between 2022 and 2025, matched by industry to bring the total investment up to more than £1 billion in that time frame.
In addition to the confirmation that the ATI programme will be extended through to 2031, as confirmed in the Budget in October, this is very welcome news that will go a long way to maintaining the UK’s place as a global leader in aerospace research and development. The ATI re-opened for Expressions of Interest on 4 April, with more information available on their website.
ADS CEO Kevin Craven described the announcement as a “major vote of confidence in the UK aerospace industry”, which “will turbocharge our development of the technology needed to deliver net zero aviation, accelerating progress towards this global ambition.”
You can read Aerospace Policy Adviser, Andy Phillips’, blog on the announcement as well as ADS’ Members briefing note.
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UK Security & Resilience Outlook 2022
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Last month at Security and Policing 2022, ADS published the UK Security and Resilience Outlook 2022, which set out the latest statistics mapping the sector’s economic contribution and provides an overview of the policy and business landscape for the year ahead.
The Outlook confirmed that the UK security and resilience sector directly employs 138,000 people in the UK and supports 5,500 apprentices across the sector. Turnover growth continues to increase year on year, reaching £20bn in 2021. Exports of security are worth £8.5bn to the UK, making the UK the fourth largest security exporter worldwide.
ADS will continue to support and promote members of our innovative security and resilience sector, and you can read the full UK Security and Resilience Outlook 2022 on our website.
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ADS have been coordinating with members on the impacts of the war in Ukraine on ADS members, feeding-in top level themes and information into BEIS, DfT and other Government departments. ADS have collated a high-level information sheet on the impacts – available here – and continue to engage with members and Government on this issue. Please do feed in on any further impacts of the situation in Ukraine.
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On Wednesday 23 March, the Chancellor published his spring statement. Within this, he stated that coronavirus coupled with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an increased cost of living for most families in the UK. As a result, he published a range of measure to attempt to ease the cost of living burden, including a cut in fuel duty by 5p per litre, elevating the NI threshold by £3k and planning to cut the basic rate income tax by 1% if economic targets are met. The spring statement also signalled the cut of tax rates on business investment in the Autumn 2022 Budget. Employment Allowance will be increased to £5k, up from £4k, from April for SMEs. ADS members can read a full summary of the spring statement alongside ADS’ comments here.
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Last month, the Government announced an extension to the support provided to Horizon Europe applicants launched in November 2021. This will ensure that eligible successful UK applicants for grant awards will continue to be guaranteed funding.
The guarantee will now be in place for awards expected to be signed by the end of December 2022, while efforts continue to associate to Horizon Europe, as both the UK and the EU agreed under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) last year. The funding will continue to be delivered through UK Research and Innovation, and details regarding the scope and terms of the extension to the guarantee are available on their website.
ADS have written to the Innovation Minister, George Freeman MP, to further emphasise the value of the UK association to Horizon Europe, and to request that funding is explicitly guaranteed for Horizon Europe’s Clean Aviation, as it has been for other similar workstreams.
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ADS responded to three consultations last month:
- Defence Committee inquiry into UK defence and the Indo-Pacific – ADS submitted a response which welcomed the increased attention shown by the UK Government in the IndoPacific, a region which is increasingly providing new commercial opportunities for UK plc. It noted that to further develop these opportunities in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, the Government need to swiftly progress on maturing a standardised Government to Government (G2G) commercial mechanism for defence and security sales and work with its global partners and industry to implement this policy effectively.
- APPG for the Future of Aviation inquiry into the Recovery of British aviation, travel and tourism sectors and the UK economy – ADS’ response stated that Government action is needed now to ensure that the Jet Zero opportunity is reached. ADS highlighted that it is vital that in the short-term the Government provides the aerospace sector sufficient support to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in a strong position as any loss of jobs, investment and output now would be detrimental as the industry strives for net zero by 2050.
- BEIS consultation on Climate Change Agreements – ADS submitted a response that noted the aerospace industry’s participation in the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme over the last few decades, which has demonstrated the commitment to improving the efficiency of manufacturing sites. It concluded that while incremental improvements in efficiency will not achieve net zero alone for the industry, they are an important part of the system efficiencies that aerospace is committed to.
- DCMS consultation on embedding standards and pathways across the cyber profession by 2025 – ADS’ response strongly agreed that the UK cyber security industry is best placed to define and embed professional standards but also welcomed the introduction of the UK Cyber Security Council and the Government’s efforts to support the professionalisation of the sector.
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Over the past few years, the PEPAM team have been privileged to have a 6-month secondee which has been successfully managed between ADS and MBDA. At ADS we feel that we are uniquely placed within the heart of the four sectors we represent to offer a learning experience that helps individuals further their understanding of the industry, grow professional networks and improve personal development.
The current MBDA Secondee who sits within the PEPAM team, Arjan, has written a blog this week on how he got into the UK Defence Industry and why he decided his next placement would be at ADS which you can read here.
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On the back of this success, ADS has now launched more broad ADS Secondment Programme to help develop talent in all our sectors. ADS is planning to offer five secondments, one in each of our four sectors and a further secondment within the executive office team and each secondment would last 6-12 months.
If your company would be interested in getting involved you can find out more information about the programme here and can contact ADS Director of HR Beth Henson.
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- UK Youth Rocketry Challenge Regionals - Following on from our successful parliamentary drop-in event, ADS has achieved more than 130 teams signing up for the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge. The regional finals will be happening around the country in May. There remain opportunities to sponsor the event, so if you want your organisation linked to one of the UK’s leading STEM outreach events please email Adam Doyle Adam.Doyle@adsgroup.org.uk
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- Security and Resilience Growth Partnership (SRGP) meeting – 6 April 2022 – ADS will be attending the SRGP meeting with the Security Minister.
- APPG for Space breakfast – On Tuesday 26 April the All Party Parliamentary Group for Space will be hosting a breakfast on sustainability in space. The event will see parliamentarians and industry discussing how space is tackling climate change from earth observation to debris removal.
- Air Capability Symposium 2022 – 7-8 April 2022 - The event provides the opportunity for the RAF Capability Team to engage with industry on future capability and evolving approaches to acquisition. Only a few places remain and full details and booking links can be found here.
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We hope that you have found this edition of the ADS Policy and Government Affairs Update useful. We are always looking for feedback to ensure this update is as relevant for ADS members as possible, so please do get in touch with ADS Public Affairs Manager Thom Rawlinson.
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