Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the 2009 Drayson partitions remain Government and UK Research and Innovation policy.

The “Drayson partitions” policy established in 2010, prior to the formation of UKRI, was to avoid tensioning parts of the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) portfolio in an inappropriate way, whilst acknowledging that tensioning different portfolio elements is a very necessary part of managing research and innovation investment.

These are not and have never been used as a ringfencing mechanism and crucially do not provide recourse to additional funds when cost pressures arise. Funding lines have been, and continue to be, independent and distinct, but cost pressures have always been dealt with across the portfolio.