Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of a potential link between (a) the rebate in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and (b) the accompanying Statutory Scheme on the level of foreign direct investment into UK R&D.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is working to better understand the impacts the operation of the current Voluntary Scheme and the accompanying Statutory Scheme on investments in the UK. We are therefore in direct conversations with companies to understand these impacts. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is in close discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department responsible for the Voluntary Scheme and Statutory Scheme, about the business environment for life sciences and its impact on investment.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is planning to take to help ensure that the number of students undertaking PhD research in mathematics is sustained.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK is a world leader in Mathematics. British mathematicians publish a large volume of highly regarded work. When compared to international colleagues, British mathematicians have the 5th largest share of publications in the world. When looking at the top 1% of most cited publications, UK mathematicians are responsible for the third largest share.
Since January 2020, UKRI has awarded £104 million of additional funding into Mathematical Sciences, over and above EPSRC’s core Mathematical Sciences Theme budget. The additional funding has funded institutes, small and large research grants, fellowships, doctoral studentships, and postdoctoral awards.
Following the SR, BEIS will set R&D budgets through to 2024/25. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the Government’s Chief Scientists have a mathematical background; and if will provide information on the academic backgrounds of the Government’s Chief Scientists.
Answered by Paul Scully
Most government departments have a Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to provide scientific advice. A CSA is typically a distinguished scientist or engineer, recruited externally from academia or industry. Of the current cohort of CSAs, two have a purely mathematical background (FCDO CSA & MOD CSA).
However, all CSAs bring deep science and/or engineering knowledge and are able to work fluently across a range of sciences including mathematics.
All current departmental CSAs have their academic background published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/chief-scientific-advisers.