Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Acknowledged
The Ministry of Defence will have to carefully balance competing priorities in determining which defence...
Conclusion
The Ministry of Defence will have to carefully balance competing priorities in determining which defence space capabilities must be “owned” by Government and which can be provided by collaboration with Allies or through a commercial contract. Russia’s recent impounding of OneWeb satellites at the Baikonur cosmodrome demonstrates the potential dangers of making the wrong call, and the subsequently announced proposed merger of the OneWeb with Eutelsat has raised further questions concerning sovereignty and national security. The planned merger between OneWeb and Eutelsat must be subject to the most stringent scrutiny under the National Security and Investment Act. More broadly, it is critical that decisions affecting the sovereignty of the UK’s defence space capabilities are made transparently. The MoD should confirm in its response to this report how it plans to make details of these decisions available for scrutiny by Parliament. (Paragraph 102) The UK’s Defence Space Capabilities: Opportunity and Challenge
Government Response Summary
The government states that it will continue to identify the UK-based industrial capabilities the MOD requires in order to deliver and sustain military capability and conduct military operations as we choose without reliance on other nations, and to protect the sensitive technologies that underpin those capabilities. With regard to transparency of critical investment decisions impacting Defence, the BEIS Select Committee has responsibility for oversight of the NSI Act.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The UK’s prioritised ambitions within the space domain will be delivered through the establishment of a balanced Defence Space Portfolio. We will continue to identify the UK-based industrial capabilities the MOD requires in order to deliver and sustain military capability and conduct military operations as we choose without reliance on other nations, and to protect the sensitive technologies that underpin those capabilities. Work on identifying the space technologies that Defence must be able to access to highly assured standards is already advanced and will be shared with industry in the coming months. With regard to transparency of critical investment decisions impacting Defence, the BEIS Select Committee has responsibility for oversight of the NSI Act and the work of the Investment Security Unit (ISU) which supports the Business Secretary to administer the Act. The National Security and Investment system is based on hub-and-spoke model which brings together input from across government and the intelligence community, with the Investment Security Unit in BEIS as the central point. The MOD is one of a number of Departments and Agencies which are consulted during both the initial screening process and during a full national security assessment on acquisitions which are relevant to its remit. The Government has committed to ensuring the BEIS Select Committee has access to the information it needs to undertake such scrutiny, and an MOU underpinning these arrangements will be published in due course. In addition, the National Security and Investment Act (NSI) Act requires the Business Secretary to publish a notice that a final order has been made. To date, nine have been made. High-level details of these orders and the reasons for them are available on gov.uk. The NSI Act also requires the Business Secretary to publish an annual report on the operation of the Act, including the numbers of notifications received, called in, and the sectors within which they fell. The first annual report, covering 4 January to 31 March 2022 was published in June 2022.4 The UK’s Defence Space Capabilities: Opportunity and Challenge