Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spent on research contracts and grants in (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24; and what proportion of that spending went to UK universities.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table shows the Core CDEL R&D spend and estimated spend on R&D in UK universities. These values only include direct contracts between core Defra and UK universities and not universities funded through Defra research programmes delivered by UK Research and Innovation or others. In addition, it has not been possible to identify UK universities that may have received funding as a sub-contractor or consortium member.
| Table 1 | |||
| Total FY spend of Defra Core agreements £m | |||
| FY22-23 | FY23-24 | ||
| Q1/Q2 | Q3/Q4 | Q1/Q2 | Q3/Q4 |
Defra Core CDEL R & D – excluding funding transferred to Public Sector Research Establishments | 9.9 | 42.3 | 17.7 | 64.9 |
Of which grants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Of which contracts to UK universities | 6.5 | 3.5 | ||
Data on R&D spending is published annually as part of the Office for National Statistics UK gross domestic expenditure on research and development.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Ministry of Defence spent on research contracts and grants in (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24; and what proportion of that spending went to UK universities.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works to support a secure and prosperous United Kingdom (UK) through allies, industry and academia to ensure the UK has the right capabilities for defence and security. MOD records all contracts on its Contracting, Purchasing and Finance system. However, it is unable to distinguish which contracts cover research due to a lack of relevant metadata within this system.
In the time available, the following organisations within MOD have confirmed their spend (Extra-Mural Research) on research contracts and grants for the years 2022-2024:
Financial Year (FY)2022-23 Research Contracts
Organisation | Total Spend | Proportion with Universities |
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) | £387.6 million | 4.7% |
Navy Command* | £80.06 million | 0.03% |
FY2022-23 Research Grants
Organisation | Total Spend | Proportion with Universities |
Dstl | £0.4 million | 100% |
FY2023-24 Research Contracts
Organisation | Total Spend | Proportion with Universities |
Dstl | £461.1 million | 4.8% |
Navy Command | £130.85 million | 1.3% |
FY2023-24 Research Grants
Organisation | Total Spend | Proportion with Universities |
Defence Science and Technology (DST) | £10 million | 100% |
FY2023-24 Research Grants
Organisation | Total Spend | Proportion with Universities |
DNO (Rolls Royce) | £3.2 million | 100% |
* The figures provided include Navy Command spend delivered by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), £32 million in FY2022-23 and £70.03 million in FY2023-24.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Department of Health and Social Care spent on research contracts and grants in (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24; and what proportion of that spending went to UK universities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department spent £1,446 million on research contracts and grants in 2022/23. In 2023/24, the Department spent £1,524 million on research contracts and grants, 32.8% of which went to universities in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what budget was set for capital expenditure, including improvements, in the further education and sixth form college sector in the financial years 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24; and what proportion of the budget was spent in each of those years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.
As announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, the government is providing £6.7 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 for education in England, a real terms increase of 19% from 2024/25. This includes £1.4 billion for the continuing school rebuilding programme, which also includes sixth form colleges and 16-19 academies. The settlement also invests over £2 billion to improve the condition of school and sixth form college buildings, and £950 million for skills capital. Skills capital includes £300 million of new funding to support further education (FE) colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate.
The department provides capital funding to FE colleges and sixth form colleges through a wide range of programmes. The department does not publish the budgets and spend of capital programmes by provider type, however, we do publish provider allocations and awards on GOV.UK and report departmental spending through the annual reports and accounts each year.
The total departmental capital budgets and expenditure for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years are provided in the department’s annual reports and set out in the table below.
Financial Year | Budget (£ million) | Spend (£ million) | Proportion of budget spent |
2021/22 | 5,267 | 4,798 | 91% |
2022/23 | 6,269 | 5,948 | 95% |
2023/24 | 6,780 | 6,636 | 98% |
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the apprenticeship budget was for the Department for Education in the financial year 2023–24; what proportion was spent in total; and what proportion was spent on (1) training for apprenticeships with levy-paying employers, (2) training for apprenticeships with non-levy-paying employers, and (3) other activities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the 2023/24 financial year, 99% of the revised end-of year English apprenticeships budget of £2,525 million was spent, an underspend of £16 million (£60 million was surrendered in year).
The following table provides a breakdown of total spend for the 2023/24 financial year, including the proportion of total spend on training for apprenticeships with levy paying employers and training for apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers in England. In addition, the table reflects the spend on apprenticeships that started prior to the introduction of the apprenticeships levy and new funding system, as well as non-apprenticeships participation spend, such as the cost of running digital services and marketing and communications campaigns.
Apprenticeships spend from the department’s ring-refenced apprenticeships budget | 2023/24 financial year (£million) | Proportion of total spend (%) |
Levy paying employers | 1,760 | 70 |
Non-levy paying employers | 695 | 28 |
Pre-reform apprenticeships | 1 | <1 |
Non-apprenticeships training | 53 | 2 |
Total | 2,509 | 100% |
Where the department’s apprenticeships budget is underspent by the end of the financial year, funds are returned to HM Treasury in line with standard practice set out in the published consolidated budgeting guidance.