Although promising to protect investment in Research, Innovation and Higher Education, there will be cuts in these areas, with a 3.9 per cent, or £836 million, reduction in expenditure at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
A planned increase in student numbers of 20,000 has been halved to 10,000, £74 million will be cut from the Regional Development Agencies, there will be a £200 million saving through efficiencies from the Higher Education budget and £233 million pledged this year for the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation project, a new biomedical research facility to be located in Central London, will now be spread over six years.
£18 million will be saved by axing projects including the Institute of Web Sciences and the SME Adjudicator, a body set up to improve the flow of credit to small businesses.
Commitment to ERA
The head of BIS, Vince Cable, Minister for Business, met Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research and Innovation, in Brussels on Tuesday during Cable’s first visit to Brussels since taking up his new post.
In a joint statement the two said they agreed research and innovation are central to boosting growth and jobs in Europe, to ensuring a sustainable recovery and to establishing a green social market economy, as set out in the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Geoghegan-Quinn underlined the EU’s role in adding value to national research and innovation policies, and in helping ensure overall European research and innovation investment is coordinated and coherent, especially to tackle problems such as climate change.
Cable underlined UK support for the continuation of research and development as a major priority for the EU.
Both agreed on the need to cut red tape in EU research funding, saying that at a time when finances are strained, it is essential to achieve maximum value from every euro spent.
Completing and consolidating the European Research Area is a priority, and Cable underlined UK support for mobility among researchers.
Other priorities include:
making sure that collaborating on research and innovation is as easy and as mutually rewarding as possible for universities and businesses;
new financing options for high-tech companies, small businesses and new start-ups;
using public procurement as a lever to encourage innovation;
re-focusing research and innovation policy on problems such as climate change, which offer major opportunities for EU business.
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