Already heavily influenced by Brexit and the dynamics of a new Government and Chancellor keen to make a dramatic statement, many will feel that last week’s budget has been totally superseded by the extraordinary national and global response to the rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic.
However, whilst we are far from a “business-as-usual” environment, the budget does give a clear indication of how this Government intends to support UK R&D.
In particular, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced ambitious plans to dramatically increase public R&D investment to £22 billion per year by 2024-25. This would more than double the UK’s investment by 2024 and clearly signals a strong belief that the UK’s long term global future relies on its ability to innovate.
The Government also set the objective of increasing economy-wide investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, putting science, innovation and technology at the heart of the UK’s investment strategy.
The increase to £22 billion per year by 2024-25 would be the largest and fastest ever expansion of support for basic research and innovation, taking direct support for R&D to 0.8% of GDP and placing the UK among the top quarter of OECD nations – ahead of the USA, Japan, France and China, creating an innovation-intensive and technology-driven economy.
Whilst overwhelmingly positive in general, the fine detail of how this surge in R&D investment will be spent has been deferred until the spending review due later this year and is likely, in the short-term, to be heavily influenced by the unprecedented pandemic response currently unfolding. The following details have been released to date.
The increase in R&D investment will support a range of objectives:
1. Backing businesses to innovate and grow (~£1.1B)
2. Supporting world-leading research in all regions and nations (~£1.58B)
3. Overcoming societal challenges (~£1.59B)
4. Growing a greener economy (~£1.9B)
The mid-to-long-term outlook for UK public investment in R&D is extremely positive.
In the immediate term, the COVID-19 pandemic will heavily influence both the availability and application of UK Government funding. However, for those ambitious organisations who are able to capitalise, a significant number of well-established public funding options remain open and accessible.
The Granted Team is at the forefront of helping ambitious businesses identify and secure R&D funding from public and philanthropic sources. If you have a product, process or service that you feel would be suitable for UK or EU R&D funding, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team.