Rutherford Fund Partnership (Operational Framework) Bill

A

BILL

TO

Establish the operational framework for the Rutherford Fund Partnership scheme to support global economic development in areas of science, research and innovation development, and for connected purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Definitions

For the purpose of this Act, unless specified otherwise, the following definitions apply;—

(1) Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is defined as government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries.

Part 1: Operational Framework

Section 1: Objectives

(1) The Rutherford Fund Partnership Program shall have the primary objective to aid the social, economic and sustainable development of partner countries in its operations via bilateral and regional research and innovation partnerships that address the specific global development challenges identified by each partner country and strengthen their research and innovation capacity. This can be achieved through the objectives;—

(a) to promote partnerships between governments, universities and researchers, guided by development impact and research excellence, helping to establish the UK as a global partner,(b) to bring together talent in connecting researchers and entrepreneurs to support their professional development and the translation of ideas into businesses and products, and build global research networks,(c) to create a global hub for innovation by supporting research and innovation hubs between the UK and partner organisations around the world for researchers and innovators to connect and tackle global development challenges,(d) to establish a global platform for the technologies of tomorrow: we form and strengthen industry-academia partnerships that bring forward emerging technologies and the business know-how to help them flourish,(e) to create a partner for a sustainable future by building and investing in collaborative partnerships to tackle the greatest global challenges, and(f) to position the UK as an advocate for better research governance, ethics and impact by contributing to research and innovation infrastructure and capacity around the world based on research excellence in the UK.

Section 2: Powers and processes of the Secretary of State

(1) The Secretary of State by an order of secondary legislation, will be required to enter all Rutherford Fund Partnership Programmes into the Annex listed under Schedule 2.

(2) Rutherford Fund Partnerships will only be active once;—

the relevant agreement has been presented before the house, and ratified under the appropriate treaty process; andthe provisions of Paragraph 1 have been approved.

(3) Pursuant to paragraph 2, failure of a Rutherford Fund Partnership Agreement to meet the approved conditions will see the programme terminated upon effect.

(4) All Rutherford Fund Partnerships Agreements are to contain a maximum expiration date established at the discretion of the Secretary of State and their Rutherford Fund Partnership counterpart.

(5) The renewal process of an established Rutherford Fund Partnership by the Secretary of State is to be carried out by an order of secondary legislation pursuant to Schedule 2.

Section 3: Principles of governance and accountability

(1) The Secretary of State shall be accountable for the strategic direction and overarching delivery of the ‘Rutherford Fund Partnership’ pursuant to Paragraphs 2 and 3.

(2) In respect of paragraphs 1 and 3, The facilitation of the Rutherford Fund Partnerships with partnered countries shall be carried out by the Secretary of State.

(3) In cooperation with the Secretary of State, responsibility of project delivery shall lie with;

(a) the relevant and necessary agencies;(b) the relevant and necessary delivery partners, adhering to the provisions of Part 3 of this Act; and(b) the relevant Joint Partnership Council (See Section 4).

Section 4: Establishment of joint Rutherford Fund Partnership Councils

(1) For each Rutherford Fund Partnership Agreement, a joint council between the two Partner countries will be established to oversee and administer the day-to-day operations of the Rutherford Fund programme.

(2) The Joint Partnership Councils shall be staffed evenly with the relevant experts and parties representing both Partner countries.

(3) Pursuant to Section 3(1), The Joint Partnership Councils shall be responsible for delivering the strategic direction of Rutherford Fund programmes.

(4) The Rutherford Fund and its operations are to report to;—

(a) the Secretary of State; and(b) the relevant Joint Partnership Council.

(5) The Partnership Council shall meet at the request of any Party, and, in any event, at least once at every state of development of a Rutherford Fund Programme, and shall set its meeting schedule and its agenda by mutual consent.

(6) The Partnership Council shall;—

(a) oversee the attainment of the objectives of their Rutherford Fund Partnership Agreement and any supplementing agreement;(b) supervise and facilitate the implementation and application of the Agreement and of any supplementing agreement.

(7) Either Party of the Rutherford Fund Partnership Agreement may refer to the Partnership Council any issue relating to the implementation, application and interpretation of the Agreement or of any supplementing agreement.

(8) The Partnership Council shall have the power to;—

(a) adopt decisions in respect of all matters where an Agreement or any supplementing agreement so provides;(b) make recommendations to the Parties regarding the implementation and application of an Agreement or of any supplementing agreement;(c) adopt, by decision, amendments to the Agreement or to any supplementing agreement in the cases provided for in the Agreement or in any supplementing agreement;(d) adopt decisions amending the Agreement or any supplementing agreement, provided that such amendments are necessary to correct errors, or to address omissions or other deficiencies;(e) discuss any matter related to the areas covered by the Agreement or by any supplementing agreement and,(f) make recommendations to the Parties regarding the transfer of personal data in specific areas covered by the Agreement or any supplementing agreement.

(f) subject to national data protection laws, make recommendations to the Parties regarding the transfer of personal data in specific areas covered by the Agreement or any supplementing agreement,

Part 2: Rutherford Fund Partner Countries

Section 5: Country Selection Criteria

(1) In order for a prospective country to be approved for the Rutherford Fund Partnership Scheme, the following criteria apply;—

(a) selected countries must be within the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA).

(2) In addition to Paragraph 1, selected countries to the discretion of the Secretary of State must demonstrate;—

(a) strong research and innovation excellence,(b) can meet mutual conditions for partnership in resource commitments,

Section 6: Matched Effort Principle

(1) Within Newton Fund agreements, the Secretary of State must require the Rutherford Fund Partner Country to match the contributions received from the UK.

(2) Partner Countries must be able to match UK contributions, subject to each agreement, either by;—

(a) direct funding,(b) resources,(c) regulatory methods, or(d) production forces.

(3) Matched effort terms within the Rutherford Fund are to be evaluated annually in joint Strategy reviews conducted by the Secretary of State and their Rutherford Fund Partner Country counterpart.

Section 7: Country strategy development

(1) The Secretary of State shall be required to develop individual country specific strategy guidelines on the direction and the programs delivered by the Newton Fund.

(2) Pursuant to paragraph 1, the Strategies are to be set out in agreements with Newton Partner countries and any relevant produced documents.

(3) Each strategy contained in an agreement shall set out;—

(a) the key agreed priorities of the UK and each Newton partner country;(b) the informed design and selection of programs that are to be funded;(c) the appropriate time frame necessary for each program; and(d) the mechanisms to which a joint review process can be conducted.

(4) The Secretary of State and their Rutherford Fund Partner Country counterpart shall be required to annually publish a joint Strategy review of current Rutherford Fund programmes and their operations.

Part 3: Rutherford Fund program delivery partners

Section 8: Delivery Partner Programme Proposal

(1) The Delivery Partner shall be required to produce evidence in the form of a programme proposal included in an application process established by the relevant agencies.

(2) In order for a Delivery Partner’s programme proposal to be accepted, it first must;—

(a) be deemed satisfactory to the Secretary of State,(b) demonstrate that the funding provided will be used for ODA eligible projects,(c) act in accordance with the agreed strategy goals and terms negotiated for operations within the Rutherford Fund Partner County (Refer to Part 2), and(d) be approved following necessary programme and business checks carried out by the relevant agencies.

3) The Secretary of State and relevant agencies shall be required to respond with either an approval or rejection within 90 days of a programme proposal being submitted.

Section 9: ODA Assessment Evidence

(1) Delivery Partners shall be required to provide assessment evidence, at various stages in each programme life cycle, that all funding reaches towards ODA eligible countries.

(2) The quantity of assessment evidence reports are subject to the amount of stages in each programme life cycle which is subject to variation which therefore;—

(a) requires Delivery Partners to establish clear processes in programme life cycles in project proposals; and(b) to submit initial programme proposals to the Secretary of State and relevant agencies three months in advance.

(4) Assessment evidence produced in the form of reports shall be required by Delivery Partners to submit to the Secretary of State and the relevant agencies pursuant to paragraph 1.

Section 10: Operational criteria and stipulations

(1) All operations carried out under the provisions of this Act by Delivery Partners must be compliant with the following criteria;—

Primary Intention:(a) The promotion of the economic, sustainable development and social welfare of Country must be the primary purpose of the activity;ODA Eligible Country:(b) The benefitting country/countries must be on the DAC list of ODA eligible countries and be the primary beneficiary of the funding; andDetailed Directives:(c) detailed directives that evaluate areas where the project includes activities which include a specific ODA criteria and elements where ODA eligibility may be impacted.

(2) All Research Capacity Building operations by Delivery Partners must be in compliance with ODA Compliant Research Activities.

(a) See Schedule 1 for the OECD definition of ODA compliant research activities.

(3) Failure of Delivery Partner(s) to adhere to this Section will see;—

(a) their immediate removal from the program, and(b) a fine imposed being subject to the amount loaned with an added rate of interest of atleast 5%.

Section 11: Extent, commencement, and short title

(1) This Act extends to the United Kingdom.

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force the day this Act is passed, and has received Royal Assent.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Rutherford Fund Partnership (Operational Framework) Act.

SCHEDULES

Schedule 1: ODA Compliant Research Activities

(1) Research includes financing by the official sector, whether in the donor country or elsewhere, of research into the problems of developing countries. This may be either—(a) undertaken by an agency or institution whose main purpose is to promote the economic growth or welfare of developing countries, or(b) commissioned or approved, and financed or part-financed, by an official body from a general purpose institution with the specific aim of promoting the economic growth or welfare of developing countries. Research undertaken as part of the formulation of aid programmes in central or local government departments or aid agencies is considered as an administrative cost.”(2) The OECD further specifies the following in relation to ODA compliant research:(a) “Only research directly and primarily relevant to the problems of developing countries may be counted as ODA. This includes research into tropical diseases and developing crops designed for developing country conditions. The costs may still be counted as ODA if the research is carried out in a developed country.”

Schedule 2: Rutherford Fund Partnership Annex

(M: This is a template for the Entries yet be negotiated where the Secretary of State will fill out)

[ENTRY AND NUMBER] — [AGREEMENT TITLE]

Section 1: Budget and spending

(1) The Rutherford Fund Partnership Scheme shall see an estimated baseline annual departmental budget of £735 Million to begin operations. The figure was reached based on similar

(2) The Secretary of State shall allocate funding appropriately, in accordance with Section 6 of this Act, to Rutherford Fund Partnerships.

This Bill was submitted by:

The Rt Hon. Dame u/BlueEarlGrey DCMG DBE PC MP, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on behalf of His Majest’s 33rd Government

With Contributions by:

The Rt Hon. u/StraitsofMagellan MP

The Rt Hon. u/Hobnob88 , PC Lord Inverness, and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Opening Speech:

Deputy Speaker,

Firstly, I want to make clear that this bill is simply the operational framework for the Rutherford Fund Partnerships, establishing universal guidelines, stipulations and procedures that are non negotiable to the structuring of the scheme. Actual contents and programme operations are devised and negotiated by the Secretary of State with Countries they have chosen to partner with on the matter.

One of the great things about this Government that brings it together is the understanding of how we can utilise the abilities of states and the capabilities of the private sector to serve public and common good. This bill very much reinforces that collaborative and cooperative approach this Government take to addressing issues which Part 3 establishes regarding our delivery Partners. By holding them to a clear regulatory framework. We aim to work in a nuanced and specialised manner which is why this is a scheme that sees the fund delivered through UK partners who offer their tailored research and innovation in partnership with Governments and organisations in each Rutherford fund country.

Part 2 focuses on the country implementation strategy. Central to the design of the Rutherford Fund are partnerships with other countries and each partnership is defined by the specific development needs and capabilities of those countries. These efforts which are to be negotiated and guided by the Secretary of State in a series of bilateral agreements affirm our commitment to supporting the development and promotion of mutual values especially in regards to Science, Research and Innovation. Therefore these unique partnerships are underpinned by bespoke strategies that are jointly developed, and that define the country’s priorities and how they are to be delivered which prove crucial to international development of science and innovation in accordance with a countries capacity and goals. Furthermore the strategies developed would be used to guide Delivery Partners in planning programme proposals and inform governments in the selection and allocation of programme funding. The strategies will help to support thinking on cross-cutting activity, such as the potential for regional approaches or programmes, or common development needs across countries. They also help to inform wider stakeholder understanding of the Rutherford Fund and country activity.

The Match Principle of Part 2 allows programmes to operate at greater scale, and to be provided with clear and strong commitment from partner countries. Matched principle effort has been shown to create the impactful conditions for additional resources that enlarge partnerships, but it is equally valuable in ensuring that the area of work being explored has the full commitment of partners. We want to make sure that these terms are done in ones that see a common and mutual interest in the advancement of science, research and innovation and not subject to a dependency culture or exploitation of our system. This principle goes to assure partner commitment to certain areas of research and innovation is fully demonstrated and reinforced by their continuing allocation of resources to it.

Therefore I urge the house to support this necessary framework that emboldens the UK to support global economic development in areas of greater the sciences, research and innovation, environmental protection, and energy sustainability, in a proactive, cooperative and resource backed manner.

This division will end on the 11th July at 10PM BST.