Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set aside £86 billion for spending on fast-growing modern industries such as technology and life sciences.
This fund, announced by the government on Sunday 8 June, forms part of the government’s upcoming Spending Review and aims to turbo-charge the country’s fastest growing sectors.
The research and development package is worth more than £22.5 billion a year in 2029/2030 and will invest in research across everything from new medicines and treatments to the development of longer lasting batteries and AI breakthroughs.
A new Local Innovation Partnerships Fund will grant local leaders such as city mayors more authority over how the research investment in their region is allocated, allowing the benefits of this investment to be felt across the country.
The fund would give dedicated awards of at least £30 million to each of the seven mayoral authorities in England (Greater Manchester, West Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, North East, and Greater London) as well as to one equivalent region in each of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to be agreed with devolved governments.
The government believes investing in research and development is critical to growth, claiming that every £1 invested in R&D generates up to £7 in benefits to the UK economy and leverages double in private investment in the long term.
“R&D is the very foundation of the breakthroughs that make our lives easier and healthier – from new medicines enabling us to live longer, more fulfilled lives to developments in AI giving us time back, from easing our train journeys through to creating the technology we need to protect our planet from climate change,” said Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.
“Incredible and ambitious research goes on in every corner of our country, from Liverpool to Inverness, Swansea to Belfast, which is why empowering regions to harness local expertise and skills for all of our benefit is at the heart of this new funding – helping to deliver the economic growth at the centre of our Plan for Change.”
The announcement precedes London Tech Week, a technology festival in the UK that attracts talent and major tech companies from across the world, which begins on Monday 9 June.
Leave a Reply