§ Ms. PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many members of staff in universities and other institutions of higher education working on research contracts or agreements currently funded by his Department are required to have security clearance;
(2) how many research contracts or agreements which are currently being funded by his Department are classified;
(3) if researchers accepting funding from his Department are advised whether to discuss their work and its objectives with colleagues or the media;
(4) what is his Department's definition of classified research;
(5) what measures his Department takes to prevent the misuse of results of research funded by the Ministry of Defence by foreign or third parties;
(6) what proportion of the results published from projects funded by his Department outside its own establishments is classified;
(7) whether classified research in universities and other institutions of higher education is funded by his Department.
§ Mr. NeubertThe great majority of work commissioned by MOD with universities is unclassified. There are four extant contracts/agreements with universities and other institutions of higher education classified as restricted or above. The disclosure and publication of the results of classified research is subject to the provisions of the Official Secrets Act. For research which is not classified, while the MOD generally encourages publication of results, the academic institution is required to consult the MOD before any unrestricted disclosures, including any lecture, demonstration, publication or the submission of any thesis to an examining body. This would not preclude informal academic exchanges with immediate colleagues. Finally, it is not the Government's practice to give detailed information about security vetting of individuals.
§ Ms. PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many research contracts or agreements funded by his Department have been cancelled in the last five years; and for what reasons;
(2) how many research contracts or agreements his Department is currently funding in universities and other institutions of higher education; and what is their total value.
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§ Mr. NeubertThe Ministry of Defence has currently 745 research agreements and 106 research contracts placed with a wide range of United Kingdom universities and other institutions of higher education to a total value of about £65 million. Some 20 agreements have been terminated early during the past five years, the great majority of which were due to administrative difficulties encountered by universities.