The government has set out details of how it plans to spend £55 billion on research and development (R&D) of the £86 billion allocated as part of the 2025 spending review. Funding spread over the next five years is a key element in Labour's industrial strategy develop the economy and improve people's lives.
Earlier this year, in its 2025 Spending Review, the government announced that £22.6 billion a year would be allocated to research and development by 2029-30 in support of its modern industrial strategy.
Labour's Modern Industrial Strategy, announced in June, is underpinned by this commitment, which amounts to £86 billion of investment in UK research and development, targeting the eight sectors with the highest growth potential, leveraging private investment in cutting-edge research, technology and commercial applications – technology and digital being one of these sectors. The Labor Party's goal is to make the UK the leading European hub for creating, investing in and scaling high-growth digital and technology businesses.
Earlier this year, the National Audit Committee identified a number of shortcomings in the methods UKRI, the UK's national funding agency. for science and research, works, including fraud prevention. The agency is currently tasked with delivering more than £38 billion by 2029, including almost £10 billion in 2029/30 alone.
By 2029-30, funding for the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) will more than double from £220 million a year to £400 million a year. Aria will use part of these funds to support its work exploring how robots could potentially help meet the growing need for adult social care.
The Met Office will receive more than £1.4 billion to support its work in climate science. Other areas of funding include more than £900 million for the National Academies, £550 million for the National Measurement System and £240 million for the Artificial Intelligence Security Institute.
Announcing the new funding during a visit to IBM's London office, Science and Technology Minister Liz Kendall said: “Supporting our best and brightest researchers and innovators is vital. They are making the impossible possible, from healthcare to clean energy and beyond. Their ideas will create the industries of tomorrow, accelerating growth and transforming public services now and in the future. By investing in their work, we are supporting the UK's long-term success, paving the way for breakthroughs that will help us all live and work better.”
The visit to IBM was used to illustrate how private investment is supporting the strength of the UK's public offering in research and development in areas such as quantum mechanics and robotics. The government said that for every £1 of public R&D funding in the technology and digital sector, there is £3 of private investment in R&D.
IBM is also working in partnership with government-funded researchers through UKRI's £21 million Hartree Center to use artificial intelligence and supercomputing to discover new medicines and clean energy breakthroughs. It is also among the companies offering quantum computing resources through National Center for Quantum Computingwhich will benefit from a 10-year government funding commitment.
By investing in R&D now, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said the government is “making a down payment on Britain's future”, which it says will pay dividends for decades to come and put money in people's pockets.
