Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 1
Sixth report - Sovereignty for sale: follow-up to the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab
Published 5 Apr 2022
Paragraph 18
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The FCDO’s role in blocking foreign asset stripping in the UK All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we have no choice but to assume that the NSA review that the Prime Minister said he had initiated has not, in fact, been started. In its response to this report, we ask that the Government set out the circumstances in which the National Security Adviser is engaged in reviews under the National Security and Investment or Enterprise Acts; the reasons why the Prime Minister asked the NSA to undertake a review of Newport Wafer Fab; why the NSA did not undertake such a review; and for an update on the nature of the continued monitoring by the Investment Security Unit
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Sixth report - Sovereignty for sale: follow-up to the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab (HC 1245), paragraph 18, 5 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 April 2022 (deadline 5 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government "takes careful note" of the Committee's report and conclusions, responds to each, and says no decisions have been made on the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia.
- On the National Security Adviser's role, the Government says the Investment Security Unit advises the Secretary of State and that "Where appropriate, this can include advice from the National Security Adviser".
- It says the Prime Minister asked the National Security Adviser to review the case because he is the Prime Minister's "lead official on matters of national security".
- On Newport Wafer Fab, it says it "continues to consider" the Nexperia acquisition and that "no decisions have been made". It does not comment on details of individual transactions or national security assessments.
- It states that, where the statutory tests are met, the Secretary of State may call in a qualifying acquisition he is aware of up to six months after commencement of the Act on 4 January 2022.