Research into faster drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries will form part of the £86bn science and technology funding due to be unveiled in the government’s spending review next week.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will unveil how much taxpayer money each government department will get.
Each region in England will be handed up to £500m to spend on science and technology projects of their choice, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) says.
In Liverpool, the funding is being earmarked to speed up the development of new drug treatments, while in South Wales, it will fund longer-lasting microchips for smartphones and electric cars.
Overall by 2030, Ms Reeves’s spending package will be worth more than £22.5bn a year, the government says.
“Britain is the home of science and technology,” she said on Sunday. “Through the ‘plan for change’, we are investing in Britain’s renewal to create jobs, protect our security against foreign threats and make working families better off.”
Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle added: “Incredible and ambitious research goes on in every corner of our country, from Liverpool to Inverness, Swansea to Belfast, which is why empowering regions to harness local expertise and skills for all of our benefit is at the heart of this new funding – helping to deliver the economic growth at the centre of our plan for change.”
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Flat real-terms budget ‘won’t be enough’
Regional leaders such as North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker welcomed the funding promise.
But the announcement was met with caution by industry leaders.
John-Arne Rottingden, chief executive of Wellcome, the UK’s biggest non-governmental research funder, said: “While it’s positive under the financial circumstances, a flat real-terms science budget, along with continuing barriers such as high visa costs for talented scientists and the university funding crisis, won’t be enough for the UK to make the advances it needs to secure its reputation for science in an increasingly competitive world.”
He claimed the UK should be “aiming to lead the G7 in research intensity” to “bring about economic growth” and “advances in health, science, and technology that benefit us all”.
Director of policy and public affairs at the Institute of Physics Tony McBride expressed similar concerns.
“To fully harness the transformational potential of research and innovation – wherever it takes place – we need a decade-long strategic plan for science,” he said.
Mr McBride said a “plan for a skilled workforce… starting with teachers and addressing every educational stage” is key – something he hopes will feature in Ms Reeve’s spending review.
Among the other announcements expected are a potential scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and a green light to a new nuclear power station in Suffolk – Sizewell C.
