Deloitte's take on the budget and R&D tax relief. And other responses on the spending for science.
The responses to the UK budget are piling in. Deloittes has put out a press release UK business to welcome R&D extension in 2007 Budget announcement. Not a lot of detail beyond the quote that:
"This has gone further than we expected and along with the establishment of the specialist R&D units reflects the Government’s enthusiasm for encouraging innovative activities in the UK. Even after taking into account the various changes in the corporation tax rates in the coming years, the net benefit of the relief should be greater for SMEs and Large companies."
The Royal Society has also chipped in with one of its content free statements from the President on the general support for science. There's a nice sideswipe in the comment that:
"The Royal Society will be closely monitoring the flow of money to ensure that increases in investment result in more research being done and do not disappear amidst changing accounting practices."
Would Gordon Brown really be that sneaky?
Not to be outdone, The Royal Academy of Engineering has thrown out its own response, welcoming the green tinge to the budget. The academy also chips in with some advice on where to aim the cash that Gordon Brown plans to put into research:
New money to support science and education is vitally important but really needs to be focussed on those areas where industry is crying out for high level skills.
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