Horizon Europe

Lord Krebs Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I praise my noble friend Lord Stansgate for his persistence and effectiveness in bringing the matter of European science funding to this House. He will have seen that, on 26 September, we published a position paper on FP10, laying out that we would like to explore greater association with that programme and to be part of trying to shape it, provided that it delivers excellence, is relevant and delivers value for money for both the taxpayer and researchers. Visas are under constant review by the Home Office. What is encouraging is that the visa costs, for both the fast-track visas and others, can be covered by Horizon Europe funding.

[Lord Krebs (CB)]

My Lords, it was reported in the press about a year ago that a substantial sum of money allocated to the research budget in relation to our association with Horizon had subsequently been withdrawn by the Government. Can the Minister tell us whether those reports were correct, and, if so, what the sum of money was?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

Any underspend on Horizon in the last year has been fully kept within the department.