Questions over £4.5m space centre funding approval

Opposition parties are questioning why £4.5m of public regeneration money is needed to support a US-owned space testing centre in Keighley.

Bradford Council's executive, led by Reform UK, has approved the grant for Space Test North at Providence Park, with York-registered BSC Filters funding the remainder of the £9m development.

BSC Filters is part of US-headquartered group Dover Corporation, which reported revenues of about $8.1bn in 2025.

The project is set to create 50 jobs, with the council's leadership recently voting through what it described as "precisely the opportunity Keighley should be pursuing".

However, the investment via a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government grant has prompted scrutiny from councillors across three opposition groups.

Conservative councillor Raph Cohn questioned the public contribution during a meeting discussing the project.

"It's the size of the grant and the proportion of the investment of 50% - it's very, very large," he said.

"I struggle to understand why there's no wholesale financing of it or at least investor financing."

He also questioned how much money the council would recover if the project ran into difficulty.

Space Test North would provide specialist radio frequency and environmental testing for space and satellite hardware, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bradford Council's executive recently signed the deal off [BBC/Gemma Dillon]

Labour councillor Caroline Firth, who represents Keighley East, said: "This is a wonderful investment opportunity for Keighley.

"My question is, this is a relatively small amount of money when the parent company made £8.4bn revenue in 2024 when these discussions started.

"Why isn't the parent company funding this themselves?"

Firth also pressed council officers over what would happen after the grant and how councillors could hold officers and the company to account for the benefits being promised.

David Shepherd, the council's director for place, said the centre would provide a service not currently available elsewhere in the North of England.

"But this will not proceed without public investment," he said.

"It will re-establish Keighley's reputation for engineering and will position Keighley at the forefront of the UK's fastest growing industry."

A report to the executive said safeguards in the deal would include a parent-company guarantee, security over project equipment and monitoring and clawback arrangements.

Ian Eglin, the council's executive member for corporate resources, told the meeting the deal was "risk free for the council" as the money comes from a government grant.

However, he also added: "It is low risk for the council and sometimes businesses have to take risks."

Deputy council leader Andrew Judson said: "This is precisely the opportunity that Keighley should be pursuing, bringing investment to the district, supporting growth sectors of the future and creating skilled, well-paid jobs."

Following the meeting, councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed, deputy leader of the Bradford Independent group, called for further clarity.

He said he had "no objection whatsoever" to the investment in Keighley but said the council needed to demonstrate what residents would receive in return.

"Why is £4.524m of public money necessary? What private funding was available or sought? And what would genuinely not happen without the public subsidy?" he asked.

"Residents should not simply be told that this is a £4.5m investment. They should be shown what £4.5m is going to deliver for them."

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Proposal for space testing centre set for decision