FOLLOWING the UK voting for Brexit at the end of June, there is a great deal of uncertainty over what our future relationship with the EU will look like, and the sort of access we will continue to have. Within our part of the country, this uncertainty is felt nowhere more than the science and technology centres that are based within my constituency.

The Harwell Campus has long been a centre for scientific innovation, we also have another business and technology centre at Milton Park, and just over the border in a neighbouring constituency is the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, one of the leading centres of fusion research in the world. These centres benefit a great deal from the £1 billion of funding that the EU provides the UK for research every year.

Science is one of Britain's greatest success stories and will underpin our future economic growth. The Government has provided a great deal of support for the sciences, with its £4.7 billion budget rising in cash terms every year of this parliament, along with £6.9 billion investment in our research infrastructure. It is also in the process of setting up UK Research and Innovation, a new body that will ensure we maximise the £6 billion invested annually in these areas.

While the funding that science research receives from the EU following the recent referendum will be a matter for the upcoming discussions, the UK still remains a member of the EU and will continue to receive relevant funding. The Brexit negotiations will have no immediate effect on the right of UK researchers to apply or participate in the EU’s biggest research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, until the negotiations have concluded and a deal has been reached.

Over the years I have lobbied to ensure that the sector is adequately funded and supported by the Government, and I will continue to pursue this with vigour from the backbenches. Especially while we adjust to the new reality we find ourselves in.

Following a number of meetings with local business and science leaders from across my constituency, I arranged for two key members of the Science and Technology Facilities Council to meet with the science Minister Jo Johnson. Following this meeting I have written to the Science Minister seeking the reassurances that the scientific community needs for the coming years.

Access to funding pools, collaborations with European colleagues, as well as access to the best and brightest candidates is for the industry important, and concerns in these areas are already having an effect on project planning.

Despite these concerns there is a positive case to be made. There are many projects within the Harwell Campus that are actively involved in international science programmes. Making the most of these non-EU international collaborations in the run up to, and embracing the opportunities which will arise from Brexit, will strengthen our vitally important science base.