The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The UK has a global reputation for innovation and research and our future prosperity rests on our ability to continue to compete in a global economy. Innovation and research is a key priority for this Government, and the Secretary of State and I are today publishing the Government’s “Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth” which seeks to build on our existing strengths. A copy of the strategy is being placed in the House Library.
Our universities, research councils and businesses are national assets that form the foundation of the UK’s future competitiveness. However, if we are to realise our vision for the UK’s future we need to strengthen our innovative capability and encourage further investment in innovation.
The Government have already made clear our commitment to the UK knowledge base by maintaining the annual £4.6 billion budget for science and research programmes with £150 million each year supporting university-business interaction. Going further, we intend to maximise the impact of our research base on economic growth and have announced £610 million to science capital investment projects since January 2011.
We will improve incentives for companies to innovate, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition to our successful changes to the SME research and development tax credit we will invest an additional £75 million to support small business innovation including additional funding for Smart grants that support SME research and development. We will implement a new innovation voucher programme enabling small businesses to engage with universities and the wider knowledge base.
We will also support research innovation and collaboration overseas, focusing on innovation hot spots and high-growth economies, starting with China and India. We will make it a priority to secure greater European funding to support research and development by UK businesses.
The coalition Government are putting innovation and research at the heart of their growth agenda through greater investment and increased collaboration, ensuring that the UK has a promising future.