Conclusion 6

UKRI and the Department are not ensuring that infrastructure is adequately maintained and is decommissioned at the right time. UKRI relies heavily on research infrastructure maintained by universities, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for these institutions to make the sustained investments needed. Restoring university-owned research infrastructure to a fully operational condition would cost £5.6 billion, at a time when many universities have large financial deficits. The government is right to be worried about some of these deficits. The cost of maintaining UKRI’s own research infrastructure is also unaffordable, but UKRI believes it can reduce this if it prioritises, and reduces the size of its estate accordingly. It has recently begun an estates modernisation programme as large parts of its estate are ageing and in poor condition. For example, around 45% of STFC’s estate is in an unacceptable state, with consequences for the research it carries out. STFC is developing cost estimates for decommissioning and expects to understand the potential costs better in three to six months. The Department agrees with us that, although decommissioning is controversial, it can be the right choice where there are opportunities to modernise infrastructure or make better use of the land. recommendation UKRI should write to the Committee within six months to set out: a. How much it expects STFC to spend on modernising infrastructure within the current Spending Review period. b. How much it expects STFC to spend on this in subsequent Spending Review periods, and what assessment it has made of the benefits of modernising this infrastructure earlier. c. How much it expects STFC to spend on decommissioning redundant infrastructure in the current Spending Review period. d. The estimated annual cost of maintaining under-utilised or redundant infrastructure which will not be decommissioned or disposed of in the current Spending Review period. e. What major programmes will be cut as a result of this. 6 1 Converting UK innovations into growth Introduction