Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 132
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Universities and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Horizon Europe is the EU’s €100 billion research and innovation programme that succeeds Horizon 2020 and runs from 2021 to 2027. The programme aims to strengthen European science and technology research, boost innovation capacity, competitiveness and jobs, and deliver on citizens’ priorities.310 Many in the science and research sectors, such as Wellcome, argued that the UK should associate to Horizon Europe following 305 European Commission, Horizon 2020 in full swing: Three years on (December 2017), p 27 306 European Commission, Horizon 2020 in full swing: Three years on (December 2017), p 28 307 Q136 308 Q178 309 Q192 310 Wellcome, Why the UK should associate to Horizon Europe (November 2019), p 4 Universities and Scotland 51 the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This was because “EU Framework Programmes are the most ambitious multilateral funding schemes in the world, and participation is increasingly global”.311
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), 28 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 28 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out continued work with the devolved administrations and existing UK-wide policies on international students, immigration, research funding and talent, and states it will submit a response to the earlier Immigration and Scotland report "shortly".
- On the Turing Scheme, it confirmed funding for three years, including "£110 million for the 2022/23 Academic Year". It states the scheme "prioritises pupils, students and learners over staff and inward mobility funding", and says the first year's impact will be evaluated.
- On Erasmus+, it states that President Von Der Leyen "has previously confirmed that association by part of a country is not legally possible".
- On UKRI, it states that Board appointees "are not recruited to represent any constituency, sector or regional grouping", while a legal requirement to have regard to research conditions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is taken into account. It says Research England's place on the Executive Committee reflects its status as a legal component of UKRI.
- On visa costs, it states that "UK visa fees are broadly in line with our competitors" and that it will "continue to keep visa fees under review".