Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted
UKRI's new data systems aim for cross-government R&D visibility, but lack a firm completion date.
Recommendation
We asked whether the new systems that UKRI is developing could be adopted by other departments to provide insight across all government investment in research and innovation.39 UKRI noted that, while it invests a substantial amount of taxpayers money, this sum amounts to less than half of what government as a whole invests in R&D.40 UKRI explained that the new system would manage both the investment funding allocated directly to it and the additional £1 billion in funding that UKRI manages on behalf of other departments each year.41 UKRI said that its “Databank”, where data from across the organisation are captured in a common format so that they can be more easily analysed, is being designed so that even if other departments are not using the same system, UKRI can bring those different data sources together. UKRI told us that in the long-term it expects its updated data systems to provide visibility across all of the government’s £20.4 billion funding portfolio. However, UKRI did not give us a firm date by which it would achieve this aim.42 IT systems
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating UKRI is developing a new online portal, replacing Gateway to Research by Summer 2026, which will improve data accessibility and coverage across the UKRI portfolio and funds managed for other departments. UKRI will report on progress by February 2026 and publish allocation breakdowns.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2026 3.2 UKRI routinely publishes details of awards made via its funding systems through the UKRI Gateway to Research website. UKRI Gateway to Research provides ongoing open access to data on projects, people, organisations and outcomes from 2006 to the present day and is updated every quarter. 3.3 However, DSIT and UKRI acknowledge that further work is needed to ensure that this data is both comprehensive and easily accessible, and UKRI is developing a new online portal to replace Gateway to Research, currently planned to be launched in Summer 2026. The new online portal will draw data from UKRI’s data warehouse, Databank, which provides a repository for information on research and innovation grants. Work is underway to improve the coverage of the UKRI portfolio in this published data and to clearly identify funds managed on behalf of other government departments. This will improve the availability of UKRI funding data to all users, including government officials, investors and members of the public. 3.4 Changes to increase the published detail of UKRI funding data are underway now and will steadily deliver improved coverage of the portfolio. UKRI will report to the Committee on progress made and further plans in February 2026. 3.5 DSIT and UKRI will also publish a detailed breakdown of UKRI allocations for the next Spending Review period, before the start of the next financial year.