Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress his Department has made on the implementation of Recommendation 27 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 was administered by HEFCE, working with the HE funding councils for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The funding bodies consult widely on the arrangements for the REF and on their respective funding allocation processes.

Overall funding from HEFCE for “Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience" research increased by over 16% as result of REF2014 from 2015-16. This was the largest increase across all the life sciences. In addition HEFCE continued to consider funding allocations for these disciplines very carefully, including holding discussions with key parties in the research community. As a consequence of work with an expert panel to assess the balance of clinical and non-clinical work within these disciplines, the HEFCE Board agreed to increase the cost weighting with effect from 2017-18. Decisions on research funding allocations for 2018-19 onwards are now a matter for Research England.

Once allocations are made the funding is unhypothecated and it is the Higher Education Institutions themselves who will determine how it is spent.

Detailed guidance for the next REF exercise in 2021 is now in development. The outcomes of REF 2021 will inform the allocation of research funding from 2022-23. It will be important to ensure that this assessment information can inform an appropriate approach to funding research for these disciplines. The REF team has begun exploring this with representatives from the relevant subject communities and will develop, with the expert REF panels, appropriate proposals, which will be subject to consultation with the HE sector in summer 2018.