Request Received: 26 September 2026
Please treat this as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to Innovate UK Monitoring Officers, Monitoring Service Providers and Assessors.
I am not requesting the names or identities of any individual Monitoring Officer, Assessor or other person. All numerical information requested may be provided in aggregate.
Please provide the information for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date.
For 2026, please provide figures up to the date on which the relevant data is extracted for this response, and state the extraction/reference date used.
If the information is held only by financial year rather than calendar year, please provide the closest equivalent breakdown available and state the reporting periods used.
Where possible, please provide the information in Excel format.
Monitoring Officers and Monitoring Service Providers
1. Monitoring Officers – registered and active For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide:
a) the total number of Monitoring Officers registered on the relevant Innovate UK / UKRI Monitoring Officer system or community;
b) the number of those Monitoring Officers considered live / active / available for allocation of monitoring work during that year; and
c) if held, the number of Monitoring Officers who were actually allocated at least one monitoring project or assignment during that year.
If Innovate UK uses a specific internal definition or status for “active”, “live” or equivalent, please state that definition/status and provide the figures using the terminology held within your systems.
2. Monitoring Service Providers
For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide:
a) the number of Monitoring Service Provider (MSP) companies or organisations registered; and
b) if different, the number of MSP companies or organisations that were active and/or supplied Monitoring Officers during that year.
3. IR35 / off-payroll status
For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide the breakdown held of Monitoring Officer engagements or assignments according to IR35/off-payroll status, for example:
outside IR35;
inside IR35;
and any other status/category used.
If IR35 status is recorded by assignment rather than by individual Monitoring Officer, please provide the figures on that basis and state the basis used.
4. Engagement / business structure
For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide any breakdown held showing Monitoring Officers engaged as:
sole traders / individuals;
through their own limited company or Personal Service Company; through a Monitoring Service Provider company; and any other engagement category used.
If these categories are not recorded in this form, please provide the closest equivalent information held. Allocation and procurement of monitoring work
5a. Are all Innovate UK monitoring project opportunities, assignments or contracts offered and awarded through the Monitoring Officer Community (MOC) procurement / bidding system, or its equivalent current system?
5b. If not, for each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide the number of monitoring assignments, projects or contracts allocated outside the normal MOC competitive bidding/procurement process. Please state whether the figures relate to individual projects, assignments, contracts or another unit.
5c. Where monitoring work can be allocated outside the normal MOC bidding/procurement process, please provide:
the policy, procedure or guidance governing such allocations; the criteria used to determine when work may be allocated outside the normal bidding process; the criteria used to select the Monitoring Officer or Monitoring Service Provider; the job role, team or function authorised to make or approve such allocations; and the job role or level which makes the final decision.
Personal names are not required.
Assessors
6. Assessor numbers For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide:
a) the total number of Assessors registered with Innovate UK;
b) the number considered active / live / available to undertake assessments; and
c) if held, the number who actually completed at least one assessment during that year.
If Innovate UK uses a particular definition of “active” or “live”, please provide the figures according to that definition.
7. Assessors who are also Monitoring Officers
For each of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date, please provide:
a) the number of registered Assessors who were also registered Monitoring Officers;
b) the number of active Assessors who were also active Monitoring Officers; and
c) the percentage this represents of the relevant Assessor population. Aggregate figures only are requested.
8. Other roles and conflicts of interest Please provide the current policy, terms, guidance or rules governing whether an Innovate UK Assessor may also:
a) be an employee, director, shareholder, consultant or adviser to an organisation which applies for Innovate UK funding;
b) provide consultancy services to organisations applying for Innovate UK funding;
c) act as a grant bid writer or assist in preparing Innovate UK funding applications; and
d) subsequently act as a Monitoring Officer for Innovate UK-funded projects.
Please also provide the relevant rules/procedures relating to declaration and management of conflicts of interest arising from these activities.
If aggregate information is held for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 year-to-date on the number of Assessor conflict-of-interest declarations, recusals or exclusions from particular assessments, please provide those figures by year.
General
Where information requested above is not held using exactly the terminology I have used, please provide the closest equivalent information held and explain the terminology or categorisation used.
If any part of this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide the remaining information and advise how the affected part could be refined so that it can be answered within the cost limit.
