UK research fund suffering from Labour’s lack of strategy, watchdog says
The government should give the UK’s largest single public fund for scientific and technological research more deadlines and clearer targets in order for projects to succeed, an independent watchdog has said.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said the government should better communicate its policy priorities to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which has a budget of around £10bn, through ranking proposals and providing a clearer “overall picture” of objectives
It also recommended that the government set time limits on how long projects take to be completed, claiming there was little specificity in the UKRI’s first five-year strategy.
The UKRI is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which gave it six strategic objectives in 2018, which included investing in a greener future, improving health and boosting national security.
Risk-taking was outlined as an essential characteristic of the UKRI, but “data limitations” and the lack of counter-fraud protection left projects exposed to cheaters, stopping government investments in research from delivering returns.
The report said the UKRI’s counter-fraud team was under-staffed and suffered from a backlog of cases and limited capacity to carry out protections.
The UKRI investigated up to £42.6m in suspected fraud in 2023 but only recovered £80,000 of the grants it awarded to researchers.
It is believed that the UKRI is setting up a new counter-fraud strategy, which will be completed by September this year, by recruiting more staff and revising the criteria for fraud risk assessments.
There are also shortcomings in how UKRI evaluates projects, putting other research projects at risk of failing to achieve their intended outcomes, the watchdog added.
The structural issues will come as a cause of concern for Keir Starmer’s government, which hopes areas such as artificial intelligence and green technology can boost productivity across the UK.
It is set to unveil an industrial strategy within weeks, which could provide some clarity to academics undertaking research projects.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said the government could do more to make research and innovation projects “effective”, helping to raise the probability of outcomes being delivered despite a “higher degree of uncertainty” when new ideas are put forward.
“Although UKRI has played a key role in supporting a globally respected R&I system, there is more it could do to maximise value for money,” Davies said.
“Our recommendations are designed to help UKRI ensure its culture supports well-managed risk taking; develop better data to support decision making; and work with DSIT to define more clearly the overarching outcomes sought from its research and innovation spending.”
A UKRI spokesperson said: “We welcome today’s report from the National Audit Office, which recognises the vital role that UKRI plays in shaping and supporting a successful UK R&I endeavour, and endorses the work we are doing to drive continuous improvement in how we work.
“UKRI will continue to use its unique position in the research and innovation system to make smart and strategic investment choices, building a portfolio of investments that deliver the best outcomes now and in the future, making the most effective use of public money.”