HC 188 - The Extractive Industries - HC 188


Book Description

Extractive companies contribute directly to the UK in a number of ways. Both domestic companies and global companies listed in London contribute through taxes, dividends, licenses and the employment of British workers. The size of the UK's domestic extractive sector is well below its historical peak. However, the Government has expressed support for the enlargement of the UK's domestic extractive and the United Kingdom Trade and Investment is doing good work to promote the United Kingdom as a base for extractive companies to do business with the rest of the world. However, the extractive sector is not without controversy, particularly when one considers reports of poor practice around the world. The UK is at risk of being associated with some of the negative practices often reported alongside the sector. To counter this, more needs to be done to improve to social and environmental performance, transparency and reputations of the companies it hosts and both industry educational institutions and Government must promote and excite the next generation of extractive workers. This should be done by encouraging more British students to study STEM-related subjects, engage with industry to encourage and promote mining as a rewarding and exciting career and encourage large mining companies to support the UK as a base for mining through funding and resources.




























HC 249 - Business-University Collaboration


Book Description

The Government must commit to a 3 per cent target of GDP of research and development (R&D) spending by 2020 to ensure the UK doesn't lag behind international competitors. The BIS Committee finds that more than 30 years of under-investment in R&D has left the UK trailing countries such as the USA, Germany and France in science and innovation spending, threatening the opportunities for economic growth offered by the research excellence of the UK's world class university system. The Committee found the Catapult network has played a valuable role in harnessing the commercial benefits of science and innovation research. The Committee calls on the Government to back the recommendations of the recent Hauser Catapult review and expand the Catapult Network from the seven current centres to 20 by 2020 and 30 by 2030 and increase funding to Innovate UK. The Government needs to do more to bring businesses and universities together to realise the benefits of the cutting-edge research taking place across the country. The Committee recommends that the Government establish a respected and impartial way to measure and evaluate the success of its initiatives to increase R&D activity, such as by reintroduction of the R&D scoreboard. These measures, alongside an ambitious long-term vision for the innovation system, should be built into the forthcoming Science and Innovation strategy.