Submission to the Science Budget inquiry

In August 2015, the Academy submitted evidence to Science and Technology inquiry into the Science Budget. The inquiry will examine the impact of ‘ring-fencing’ the budget in 2010, the risks and opportunities associated with the future trajectory of the budget, and how research funds in other departments work alongside the Science Budget.

Our submission drew on the expertise of our Fellowship, and on evidence presented by the Academy’s President during an oral evidence session in July. Our input called for the Committee to assess the effect of a real-terms declining Science Budget, and highlighted the widening gap which exists between UK levels of spending and those of competitors nations abroad. We discussed the importance of a diverse range of funding sources, both from private and charitable investors, and from research budgets in other departments.

We drew upon ‘Building a Stronger Future’, a joint statement from the National Academies which launched earlier in 2015 and sets out a vision to the Government to make the UK the best place to carry out research and development. It also forms part of our wider engagement with government throughout 2015, including with the Spending Review, at a time when the future of the trajectory of the UK’s research environment is being shaped.