Dowden to Brief University Chiefs on Academic Security

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden outlines the government's approach to balancing economic security while welcoming foreign investment, during a speech at Chatham House, London, on April 18, 2024. Yui Mok/PA Wire

The deputy prime minister said he will brief university chiefs on academic security in the coming weeks.

Oliver Dowden announced on Thursday in a speech at an event hosted by the Chatham House think tank.

Warning of economic security risks the UK is facing, Mr. Dowden ruled out decoupling with despotic regimes but said the UK “must de-risk” trades and investments.

Mr. Dowden said foreign investment into sensitive areas is not “off limits,” but promised to “fine tune” the government’s vetting system so the investments are “managed in a way that protects our national security at the same time as driving growth.”

The “economic risks of globalisation” and “rising geopolitical competition” mean Britons have to balance between “our freedoms, our prosperity, and our security,” Mr. Dowdon said.

The deputy prime minister rejected arguments for detaching from despotic regimes, saying its proponents “see this simplistically” and are advocating “a move to a polarised world.”

“That is not the approach of the UK government. We will not decouple from the global economy. We will continue to default to openness. We must,” he said, adding that there’s “no greater source of resilience than a strong economy.”

“So while we won’t decouple, we must de-risk; Our rules must constantly adapt,” he said.

Announcing plans to boost understanding of security risks, Mr. Dowden said the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Authority are launching a new tool to help small tech businesses and university spinouts assess and improve their security..

He also said he will convene a round-table of university vice chancellors in the coming weeks to discuss the government’s findings in its review into academic security.

It comes after a research published in 2021 by the Civitas, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, said top British universities may have been “inadvertently arming China” by allowing access to cutting-edge research which could be used to develop weapons in China.

Last month, Mr. Dowden said the government was examining the rules following a report that Imperial College London (ICL) researchers have recently published several papers in collaboration with Chinese institutions linked to the military.

Commenting on academic collaborations on Thursday, the deputy prime minister applauded “openness” and “internationalism” in British universities, saying they have been crucial to the UK’s economic success and academic prowess, but acknowledged it “also has the potential to become a chink in our armoury.”

“The vast majority of that collaboration is to be welcomed and applauded,” Mr. Dowden said.

He also said, “However, it is right that we look at who has access to research frontiers in the most sensitive disciplines.”

“Similarly, we must ensure that some universities’ reliance on foreign funding does not become a dependency by which they can be influenced, exploited, or even coerced,” he added.

Investment Control Regime

The Cabinet Office also published its response to the Business and Trade Committee’s submission to its call for evidence on how the government’s new investment vetting regime is working.

The vetting power, created in The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021, has enabled the government to block a number of foreign takeovers, enabled the government to block or place restrictions on around nearly 20 foreign acquisitions of British entities or assets in areas including semiconductor manufacturing energy storage, electricity infrastructure, and satellite.

The Cabinet said the system appears to be “working well,” and committed to ensuring it “remains effective and flexible.”

The Cabinet said it will publish further consultation in the summer in relation to the regime.

It disagreed with a number of the committee’s feedbacks, including that it should review the critical sectors subject to mandatory notifications on an annual basis and that there’s a lack of awareness amongst industry of the NSI Act’s coverage.

Commenting on the NSI Act, Mr. Dowden said he will soon publish “an updated statement” on how he uses the powers under the act.

Updated guidance on the act will be published in the coming weeks, including on how it can apply to academia, the minister said.

He also said the government plans to update the mandatory area definitions, including new definitions for critical minerals and semiconductors, and introduce “targeted legislative exemptions from the act’s mandatory notification requirements.”

Mr. Dowden also warned that evidence suggests “a very small proportion” of the UK’s outbound investments “might be fuelling technological advances that enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of countries of concern.”

The deputy prime minister said the UK would engage with other Group of Seven countries and businesses to assess further the risk and mitigation measures, as well as publish guidance on how the existing NSI powers allow the government to intervene in certain outbound investment transactions.