Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of university-based (a) research and (b) development activities on levels of UK (i) productivity and (ii) economic growth.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Evidence shows that every £1 of public R&D investment leverages around £2 of business R&D investment [1] and generates approximately £7 of net economic benefits in the long term [2].

Universities play a central role in the UK’s R&D ecosystem, receiving around half of the Government’s R&D funding [3]. Their impact is wide-ranging, from advancing scientific knowledge to commercialising innovation. For example, university spin-outs and start-ups – just one channel through which universities contribute to the economy - attracted £20.6 billion in investment between 2014 and 2022 [4].

[1] The relationship between public and private R&D funding | Oxford Economics

[2] ‘Evidence on the balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending’, written evidence submitted by UK Research and Innovation to the Science and Technology Select Committee, published November 2018

[3] UK gross domestic expenditure on research and development

[4] Intellectual property, start-ups and spin-outs | HESA

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to restrict TechExpert scholarships to domestic PhD students on the UK’s international competitiveness in Artificial Intelligence innovation.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to strengthening the UK’s position as a global leader in AI. While TechExpert scholarships focus on domestic talent, we continue to attract top international talent through initiatives such as the AI Global Fellowships and the Spärck AI scholarships. These programmes ensure the UK retains world-class expertise, supports frontier research, and sustains its competitive edge in AI innovation. This balance to championing our domestic pipeline while attracting some of the world's best AI minds to the UK is key to maximising our AI ambitions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the net financial impact of international students to the economy.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

International students make a very significant contribution to the UK economy. Departmental statistics on education-related exports, published in June, estimated that international students contributed £21.06 billion to the UK economy in 2022 through their tuition fees and living expenditure.

Football regulator

Found: Thornberry (Chair); Alex Ballinger; Aphra Brandreth; Phil Brickell; Richard Foord; Uma Kumaran; Abtisam Mohamed

Found: Thornberry (Chair); Alex Ballinger; Aphra Brandreth; Phil Brickell; Richard Foord; Uma Kumaran; Abtisam Mohamed