Invitation extended to PM after space agency decision

MP Olly Glover has paid several visits to Harwell Campus, which lies in his constituency

An MP has said he is "disappointed" the Prime Minister did not take him up on an offer to visit the UK Space Agency (UKSA) headquarters, following a decision to reorganise it.

Last month the government announced it would be absorbed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to save money and ensure ministerial oversight.

During Prime Minister's Questions Olly Glover, MP for for Didcot and Wantage, asked Sir Keir Starmer if he would visit the agency at Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire to hear from the companies there first hand.

Sir Keir did not confirm if he would, but assured Mr Glover that he wanted to retain the "huge expertise and knowledge" of staff at the site.

"We have already secured almost £300m in contracts from the European Space Agency and this will cut costs, reducing duplication, so we can really focus on growing this important sector," the prime minister told the House of Commons.

The UKSA was created 2010 in response to the growing importance of the sector to the economy, which is generating an estimated £18.6bn a year and employing 55,000 people across the country.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) headquarters are near Didcot in Oxfordshire

Mr Glover is concerned that the agency will lose its operational and budgetary independence, and be vulnerable to political interference.

In a statement released after the session in the Commons he said: "I was disappointed that the Prime Minister did not engage with my request for a visit to our vital space sector at Harwell Campus."

He said he would be "watching the government's actions very closely to understand what this means in practice, and will continue to hold them to account on this important issue".

He added: "Space holds great untapped potential: for research and innovation happening in Oxfordshire, for the UK economy, and for key sectors like defence, energy and finance.

"We simply cannot risk our capabilities being undermined."

Space minister Sir Chris Bryant previously said: "Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the sector."

The merger will see the agency become a unit within DSIT, staffed by experts from both organisations and retaining the UKSA name.