Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
UKRI recognised the need to think about R&D expenditure in terms of what it described...
Conclusion
UKRI recognised the need to think about R&D expenditure in terms of what it described as the ‘place part of the agenda’.58 Comparing the distribution of the Fund with what it described as normal R&D expenditure, UKRI asserted that it thought that investment through the Fund in London was “very comparable” and that for the South East it was about “one third up”. UKRI considered that the level of investment received by the West Midlands was “over twice the level…you see normally”.59 It told us that this was due to the nature of some of the challenges on which the Fund focused, particularly mobility and the fact the UK’s advanced manufacturing base was located in the West Midlands.60 54 Q 41 55 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 56 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10, HM Government, UK Research and Development Roadmap, Policy Paper, 1 July 2020 57 Q 44; C&AG’s Report paras 2.11–2.12, Figures 8 and 9 58 Q 46 59 Q 44 60 Qq 44, 46 16 Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2021 5.2 The department and UKRI recognise that all R&D funding has a key role to play in the levelling-up agenda. As outlined in The Queen’s Speech 2021, levelling up opportunities across all parts of the UK is a key government agenda. This is supported by UKRI through its mission to build a research and innovation system in the UK, to which everyone can contribute and from which everyone can benefit. 5.3 The Fund has made significant investments across the whole UK. The NAO report cites investment in all four nations of the UK. • Scotland £128.5 million4 • Northern Ireland £16.2 million • Wales £87.5 million • England £1640.9 million 5.4 Data to assess regional investment have been collected throughout the lifecycle of the Fund with continued improvements made to the monitoring and evaluation of regional impacts. As this data set matures, officials in the department will continue to work with UKRI to investigate the drivers behind regional disparity of the ISCF funding distribution to date and will seek to improve participation across all parts of the UK for future Challenge-led funding. . 5.5 The government is due to publish its UK R&D Places Strategy later in 2021, which will also address these issues. 5.6 The department and UKRI will write to the Committee by October 2021 setting out the factors relating to regional participation in the Fund and how learning will be embedded into future Challenge delivery.