Reeves to unveil £86bn science and technology funding in spending review
Research into drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries will receive new funding as part of an Chancellor Reeves’ £86bn package for science and technology set to be announced in next week’s spending review.
Regions will be handed up to £500m with local leaders given powers to decide how investment is targeted in their communities, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said.
The overall package, which will be announced as Reeves sets out departmental spending plans on June 11, is expected to be worth more than £22.5bn-a-year by the end of the decade.
DSIT said “every corner of the country” would benefit as local leaders are given a say on how the money is spent on leveraging expertise specific to their communities.
In Liverpool, which has a long history in biotech, funding will be used to speed up drug discovery and in South Wales, which has Britain’s largest semiconductor cluster, on designing the microchips used to power mobile phones and electric cars.
The Chancellor said: “Britain is the home of science and technology. Through the plan for change, we are investing in Britain’s renewal to create jobs, protect our security against foreign threats and make working families better off.”
Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “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.”
Local leaders including Labour North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker welcomed the package, but the Institute of Physics warned a longer-term strategy for science was needed.
Tony McBride, director of policy and public affairs at the institute, said: “It’s good to see the Government recognise the power of science and innovation to transform lives and grow prosperity in every part of the UK.
“But to fully harness the transformational potential of research and innovation – wherever it takes place – we need a decade-long strategic plan for science. This must include a plan for the skilled workforce we need to deliver this vision, starting with teachers and addressing every educational stage, to underpin the industrial strategy.
“We hope that the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday will set out such a vision.”
Reeves to boost NHS spending
The NHS is also expected to receive a funding boost of up to £30bn in the spending review next week at the expense of other public services.
The Department of Health is set to be handed a 2.8 per cent annual increase in its day-to-day budget over a three-year period.
The cash injection, which amounts to a rise of about £30bn by 2028, or £17bn in real terms, will see other areas including police and councils squeezed, The Times newspaper reported.
Keir Starmer has pledged to ensure that by the next election 92 per cent of patients in England waiting for planned treatment are seen within 18 weeks of being referred.
Reeves has acknowledged that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding in a sign of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over her spending review.
She insisted the blame for the tight economic situation lay with the Conservatives rather than her rigid rules on borrowing and spending.
The Chancellor said despite a £190 billion increase in funding over the spending review period “not every department will get everything that they want next week and I have had to say no to things that I want to do too”.
Press Association