The Government has pledged to increase the UK’s R&D budget to £39.8 billion for 2022-25, the largest number in history. This funding has been allocated across the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is intended to cement the UK’s place as a global science superpower.

It is also hoped that this increased investment will spark even greater private investment, with research showing that every £1 of public expenditure in R&D eventually leverages an average of £2 of additional private investment.

This funding boost will allow the Government to deliver on their ambitions outlined in the Innovation Strategy, which intends to put innovation at the heart of the economy through supporting innovative businesses and talent while tackling some of the greatest problems facing the UK and the world this century, such as climate change.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “For too long, R&D spending in the UK has trailed behind our neighbours – and in this country, science and business have existed in separate spheres. I am adamant that this must change. Now is the moment to unleash British science, technology and innovation to rise to the challenges of the 21st century.

“My department’s £39.8 billion R&D budget – the largest ever R&D budget committed so far – will be deployed and specifically targeted to strengthen Britain’s comparative advantages, supporting the best ideas to become the best commercial innovations, and securing the UK’s position as a science superpower”

See BIVDA’s response to the announcement here.