The Information Economy Strategy published in June 2013 sets out the Government's plans to help digital technology-based businesses start up and thrive throughout the UK.

This Department is supporting Tech City UK's work with the UK Tech Cluster Alliance network. A key role of the Alliance which currently contains 13 clusters located throughout the UK, is to promote and facilitate connections and identify common barriers to growth.

To date 11 feasibility studies have been agreed, which will be supported by £2.8 million of Government funding and £1.4 million of industry co-investment. A further tranche of funding will be announced shortly.

Qatar was chosen because of its Government's commitment to increase agricultural production over the coming years with the aim of becoming less reliant on imported food and more self-sufficient. This may offer important future opportunities for UK agri-tech organisations.

The scope of the High Value Opportunity for Food Security is dependent on the national strategies to be published by key target markets. Prospects for UK-based food and drink producers will become clearer once these strategies are published.

The Agri-Tech Leadership Council has met four times. The items discussed are set out in the following table:

In addition, the Leadership Council held a telephone conference on 24 February 2014 which discussed the proposed timetable and actions for commissioning the Centre for Agri-Informatics and Metrics of Sustainability, and arrangements for evaluating the Agri-Tech Strategy.

The Agri-Tech Strategy Leadership Council is delivering the skills commitments in the Strategy. Current work includes working with the UK research councils and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to map the gaps in research skills; working with the Agri-Skills Forum to promote the professionalisation of careers in agriculture; and working with Government to help shape the new Rural Development Programme with respect to agri-skills.

Following the launch of the strategy we prioritised the Agri-Tech Catalyst, to encourage collaboration between industry and academia. We have been engaging further with industry to ensure the centres are developed as true partnerships. The process to establish the Centre for Agricultural Informatics and Metrics of Sustainability will be launched this spring. Therefore, to date, no centres have been fully established or money allocated.

Over the last few months we have held a number of discussions and consultation events to identify priorities for this centre and others that will follow. Building on this input, a sub-group of the Agri-Tech Leadership Council has developed a specification that will be published later this month. The application process will open shortly thereafter.

Yes. The Agri-Tech Investment Organisation was established on 1 August 2013 within UK Trade and Investment. It is staffed by a mix of civil servants and industry experts dedicated to increasing the value and volume of overseas investment into the UK agri-tech sector.

The UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies contains a number of actions for Industry, Government and the science base.

Action No. 1 commits the Leadership Council, working alongside others, to conduct a comprehensive mapping and evaluation of private and Government funding available for research, translation and innovation.

Work to deliver this action started at the end of March this year, led by the Agri-Tech Leadership Council. We expect the findings to be presented by the end of 2014.

James Townshend, the UK Business Ambassador for agri-tech, has undertaken the following activities to raise the UK's reputation in agri-tech; to support inward investment and exports:

2013

London—18 April. Met Hamish Renton, UK dairy specialist, in advance of visit to Qatar in May 2013.

London—29 April. Met the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), to discuss HMG Agri-Tech Industrial Strategy.

London—30 April. Attended and delivered the keynote speech at the UK Dairy Export Forum.

London—8 May. Met the Ambassador of Belarus to the UK to discuss potential business opportunities in Belarus for UK agricultural companies.

Qatar—20-23 May. Led a scoping mission aimed at positioning UK companies to win potential contracts.

Turkey—1 September. Visited the Agroexpo/Animal Expo, Eurasia.

Angola—8-9 October. Led, with my noble friend Lord Marland, a multi-sector trade mission to Luanda, which included calls on the Angolan Ministers for Finance, Petroleum, Agriculture, Defence, Energy, Trade and Industry and Education.

2014

Burma—19-23 January. A scoping visit and meetings with key decision makers and practitioners.

Early stage markets already identified are Angola and Qatar and we continue to keep our activity under review.

My noble Friend, Lord de Mauley, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Natural Environment and Science and I co-chair the Agri-Tech Leadership Council, which last met in January 2014. Under this arrangement, our two Departments work closely on the implementation of the UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies.

To date, Tech City has been funded by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). Projected UKTI expenditure for the financial year 2013-14 is £1.8 million, which is made up as follows:

In future, Tech City will be funded by BIS: the levels and cost headings are currently under discussion.

Through the Industrial Strategy, the whole of Government is working in partnership with industry to set the long term direction needed to give businesses the confidence to invest-creating more opportunities, skilled jobs and making the UK more competitive so that British businesses can thrive and compete with rising economies. The Industrial Strategy has five main strands: technologies, access to finance, skills, procurement and sectors.

We are investing in emerging technologies, where the UK has the depth of research expertise and the business capability to develop and exploit these. This includes £600 million to develop and commercialise eight great technologies and over £500 million for seven Catapult centres to speed up technology commercialisation, getting products to market faster.

The industrial strategy accelerates technology uptake through releasing constraints on the supply side but businesses themselves are best placed to make decisions on technology adoption. There are some exceptions, however, where there are clear market failures, such as CO₂ emissions reductions, new energy technologies, improving waste utilisation, and rural broadband where specific policies improve technology uptake.

We also help businesses accelerate the development and commercialisation of new technologies through the programmes delivered by Technology Strategy Board, including Collaborative R&D and Smart schemes, which are focused on supporting research and development projects in businesses, and the Small Business Research Initiative, which aims to provide business opportunities for innovative companies whilst solving the needs of Government Departments. The Technology Strategy Board also supports Knowledge Transfer Networks, which help increase the breadth and depth and rate of knowledge transfer of technology into UK-based businesses, and provides opportunities for innovative businesses through the growing network of Catapult centres.

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the formal launch of the transport systems catapult, which is going to be based in Milton Keynes. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this will be an important innovation to reaffirm the UK’s leading role in transport technology development?

The proportion of UCAS accepted applicants to UK HEIs that are female by subject of study in the academic year 2011/12 is provided in the table. The answer is based on UCAS data and as such will be limited to those accepted through UCAS to its member institutions. Accepted applicants of all ages from all domiciles are included.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) have a close working relationship with the Department for Education (DFE) at both a ministerial and official level. This helps to ensure that

the education system provides young people with an effective grounding in the skills which they need and which industry demand.

I jointly chair, with the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), a regular meeting which brings together leading representatives from across the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community and provides an opportunity to discuss ideas and feedback on current issues including technological skills. Our most recent meeting included agenda items on STEM technicians and engineering skills. This is part of a continuous dialogue between Departments at a ministerial level which is further supported and strengthened by having the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), as part of the ministerial team with his joint BIS/DFE ministerial responsibilities.

On behalf of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) appointed Energy

Strategy Fellow, Professor Jim Skea, to develop a new roadmap of research, skills and training needs across the entire energy landscape. The roadmap will provide the evidence base for the RCUK Energy Programme to plan its long-term research activities and investments.

The Government also completed a review of the low carbon innovation landscape in 2011 which focused on enhancing the delivery of publicly funded innovation support for low carbon innovation technologies. A copy of the review is available in the Libraries of the House.

The UK Israel Tech Hub was launched in October 2011 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), and with the active support and involvement of BIS, in order to drive UK economic growth by helping British companies partner with the best of Israeli innovation.

The Hub conducted a process of strategic planning and consultation with industry leaders on both sides to identify sectors with unique UK/Israel synergies—including Digital, Biomed, Cleantech, Arabic Internet, Government IT and Finance. Within these sectors, priorities have been mapped out and targeted activities executed to address these priorities.

Following the launch of the Hub, I visited Israel at the end of October 2011, on a high tech mission to promote the UK as a natural partner for Israeli high tech and to develop an understanding of the Israeli high tech scene.

I also co-chair the UK-Israel High Tech Council, launched in March 2012, with Israel's Chief Scientist, Avi Hasson.

The UK Israel Tech Hub has been defined as a three-year experiment and the assessment to date is that it is meeting and even exceeding expectations within this short time frame. Achievements to date include:

In the digital sector—three inward investment successes (opening offices in the UK), over 20 prospective commercial partnerships, and a positive change in perception among Israeli participants regarding the attractiveness of the tech environment; and

In the biomed sector—three Israeli companies planning clinical trials in the UK.

We announced funding for agri-tech only this week as part of the Chancellor’s excellent Budget. I congratulate my hon. Friend on being the first to bid for some of that funding. I am sure his idea for a new agri-tech centre will be considered carefully, and we will set out our plans in our agri-tech strategy.