BIA welcomes Chancellor’s commitment to raising R&D investment in Spending Round

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the BIA said: “We are pleased to see the new administration’s confirmation that the UK is still committed to raising R&D investment and that a new plan to give long-term certainty to the scientific community will be delivered in the Autumn.  

“In our letter to the Chancellor ahead of today’s Spending Round I urged him to recommit to the target of investing 2.4% of GDP in R&D, which gives strong confidence to global investors that our country will remain a world-leading destination for research and innovation. I welcome his confirmation today.

"There's now cross-party support for significantly raising public and private R&D investment. We look forward to working with the Chancellor as he develops his plan to be launched in the Autumn, which should include a new cash commitment to the Biomedical Catalyst and expanding R&D tax credits. This will allow the UK to seize the economic, social and health benefits of our world-leading life sciences sector.”   

Notes to editors

The Spending Round 2019 document stated:

“The government is committed to increasing levels of research and development (R&D) to at least 2.4% of GDP by 2027. In the autumn, the government will set out plans to significantly boost public R&D funding, provide greater long-term certainty to the scientific community, and accelerate its ambition to reach 2.4% of GDP.”

You can read the BIA’s letter to the Chancellor submitted on 16 August here.

In June, the BIA published a comprehensive report and hosted a cross-government roundtable of senior civil servants to inform the government’s plan to reach the 2.4% target.