UK budget lobs £100 million at business R&D

22 Mar 2007 | News | Update from University of Warwick
These updates are republished press releases and communications from members of the Science|Business Network
What is the DTI's Technology Strategy Board for? One answer comes in this week's UK budget.
By Michael Kenward
The DTI's Technology Programme has been lumbering along for a few years now, but it still isn't all that clear what the Technology Strategy Board is for. Allegedly set up to think great thoughts on how the DTI should promote innovation in the UK through technology, it actually turned out to be a "mini Research Council" with control over its own budget for projects.
 
The latest evidence piles on support for the latter. It comes in the shape of "A further £100 million for UK business to research and develop new technologies from environmentally friendly low carbon projects to leading edge manufacturing". That's the words from the post-budget press release from the DTI.
 
The fine print in the press release tells us where the money will go:
  • £40 million for advanced manufacturing projects - including design engineering technology to boost competitiveness and sustainability in sectors such as aerospace, vehicles and energy.
  • £15 million for energy technologies - both renewable low-carbon options and ensuring the continued production of hydrocarbon reserves
  • £15 million for lightweight materials
  • £5 million for plastic electronics - to build on the UK's current competitive edge in this field.
  • £7 million to areas of medicine which bring together materials, nanotechnology, tissue engineering with surgical and clinical sciences.
  • £8 million for ICT - developing technologies to support better networked business
The allocation of this cash, along with the rest of the DTI's money for R&D in the Technology Programme, starts next month.
 
There is a sting in the tail in the announcement for the academic research community. The release adds that "Research Councils will provide a further £10 million for projects with a high quality academic component."
 
Some might see this as further evidence that the DTI is meddling in how the Research Councils spend the money they receive from the government. One organisation is certainly getting worried.  
 
The usually controversy free Council for Science and Technology has already written to the DTI (Word file here), with copies to even more important people, "to express their concern following the announcement that the science budget had been reduced by £98 millions".
 
The CST has a number of beefs. The cuts mess around with something called "the ring-fence which protects the science budget". As the money was to plug holes in the DTI's own budget, the CST is miffed that the cuts "penalise Research Councils for good budgetary management, something which Government rightly recognises as being of very great importance".
 
 

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