UK R&D budget frozen at £4.6B for next four years

A decade or more of rising research spending has come to end in the UK, with the announcement that the science budget is to be frozen at £4.6 billion per annum over the next four years, as part of a huge package of public spending cuts to reduce the structural deficit.

In the month that researchers in the UK won Nobel Prizes in physics, medicine and economics, the cutting now begins: freezing the budget will amount to around 10 per cent reduction in real terms.

But this is seen as relatively good news by a science establishment softened up by the threat of a 25 per cent cut that has been hanging over it since June, when the horse trading on what to axe began. There is also cheer that the importance of science to the economy has been acknowledged.

The UK Chancellor George Osborne said he had decided to protect R&D because of the contribution it makes to growth. “Britain is a world leader in scientific research and that is vital to our future economic success. That’s why I’m proposing we don’t cut the science budget.”

This was welcomed by Nigel Gaymond, Chief Executive of the industry body, the UK BioIndustry Association, who said it demonstrates the government understands the importance of research and innovation in economic recovery. “A real-terms cut still poses significant challenges, but we acknowledge the commitment of ministers to ensuring a stable scientific research base in the UK. We now need to review the detail to ensure this reflects the needs of the bioscience industry,” Gaymond said.

Around £2 million of the annual science budget goes directly to universities to fund scientific infrastructure, the remainder to the seven Research Councils to support their research institutes and to hand out as grants. As part of the settlement Research Councils will be expected to make efficiency savings of £324 million. And the burden will fall more on some Research Councils than others, with funding for medical research being allowed to keep pace with inflation.

The budget of the Technology Strategy Board, the government body that funds translational research, has been protected, though the exact details of its settlement are yet to be announced.

UK stands still as others spend more

Bob Ward, Policy Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said it is too soon to be sure the UK’s research base will be safe. “The freeze means UK spending will be standing still over the next four years while our international competitors will be increasing the pace of their spending on research and development,” Ward said.

Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, one of the country’s leading medical research charities, agreed. While his immediate reaction was relief that science has been spared the deepest of cuts, he said this was, “Followed swiftly by the realisation that even at about 10 per cent down, we’ll be playing catch-up in an international field. We will have to wait before the full picture becomes clear, but it’s likely charities will now come under greater pressure to fund more medical research.”

University funding picture unclear

Alongside the real-terms cut in their science funding, the universities are facing a massive cut in their teaching budgets. As yet, the overall situation is not clear because the government is currently mulling changes in university tuition fees, following publication last week of a report on the funding of university teaching by John Browne, a former CEO of the oil company, BP.

However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that the overall budget for higher education, excluding research funding, will reduce from £7.1 billion to £4.2 billion – a whopping 40 per cent cut – by 2014-15. While it will continue to fund teaching for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects, it is expected that arts and humanities students will have to pay the full cost of their tuition.

Osborne said universities, “are the jewels in our economic crown,” but, “there is a need to reform our system of funding them.” In future less money would come from general taxation and more from individual tuition fees.

Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of University College London, said that at present the quality and value for money of British science is outstanding. “I hope that even with the reduced funding that this announcement implies, Britain can continue to train and recruit the best in the world and to lead in scientific discovery [and] innovation.”

Capital projects go ahead

Several high profile investments in scientific infrastructure, including expansion of the famous Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and of the Diamond Synchrotron in Oxfordshire will go ahead, as will building of the new £600 million UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) in central London. The expenditure on these and other capital projects is in addition to the annual science budget.

Mark Walport, Director of the research charity, the Wellcome Trust, said he “particularly” welcomed the announcements about Diamond and the UKCMRI, which are partly funded by Wellcome.

Cleantech projects survive

There will also be investment in clean technologies and renewable energy. The government will put £2 million into offshore wind energy, and £1 million into building a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage demonstrator. However, a £30 billion plan to generate 5 per cent of the country’s electricity needs by building a barrage across the estuary of the River Severn has been dropped.

A proposed Green Investment Bank goes ahead with £1 billion of public money. The aim it to make the UK, “A leader of the new, Green Economy,” Osborne said.

Science and entrepreneurship

It is clear the government has accepted the empirical evidence of the contribution that science makes to economic growth and stimulating business. Simon Walker, Director of the British Venture Capital Association, BVCA said this is pleasing. “Maintaining the science budget in cash terms at £4.6 billion will help safeguard the future of UK entrepreneurship and turn today’s high-tech start-ups into tomorrow’s world class businesses,” Walker said.

John Bell, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences agreed. “In this period of substantial public sector cuts the Chancellor has recognised the fundamental role science will play in economic recovery. Now is the time to focus on the funds that will be available in the coming years and to ensure that these funds are spent effectively. We must maintain the ability to regenerate key areas when more funding becomes available.”

Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society is pleased there is a “genuine realisation” that it is in the interest of the UK to aim to be among the world leaders in key areas of science and innovation. “The government has recognised the importance of sustaining the international standing of UK science in a context where other nations are forging ahead,” he said.

Devil in the detail

Imran Khan, Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering noted that important questions remain over the details of some of the funding plans, particularly over capital expenditure for Research Councils and universities, funding for the Technology Strategy Board, and the status of R&D tax credits. But he said, “The scientific and engineering community will now look forward to engaging constructively with the government on how to put research at the heart of the UK’s growth agenda.”