Following the Chancellor's announcement of the 2021 Spending Review and Autumn Budget, Professor Dame Anne Johnson PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said:
“Today’s Budget and Spending Review at long-last sets out a three-year rising budget for R&D that the research sector has been crying out for, and I am glad that the Chancellor has listened and taken action. Increasing annual investment to £20 billion by 2024/25, whilst it involves pushing the Government’s own £22 billion target back two years to 2026/27, represents a very significant uplift to the overall R&D budget.
“I am particularly pleased to see increases in investment in health research through the National Institute of Health Research, a multi-year settlement for UKRI and the National Academies, and a renewed ambition to make the UK’s visa system more attractive to overseas talent.
“Important questions remain, particularly our ability to finally secure full association to Horizon Europe, but overall today’s settlement represents a real step forward, showing that this Government is starting to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to being a science superpower.
“I hope that these headline commitments will help to reassure our incredible biomedical and health researchers and our innovative life sciences sector, allowing future planning and the continuation of delivering life-saving research in the UK.”
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Following our submission to the Spending Review, we plan to publish a more detailed breakdown of the announcements in the 2021 Spending Review.