Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the £20 billion research and development budget previously allocated to the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been allocated to her Department.

The commitment the Government made to spend £20bn on public R&D investment in 2024/25 remains in place and is a cornerstone of our plans to cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower.

At the Spending Review, HM Treasury allocated R&D funding across all Government Departments, of which the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) accounted for 71% in 2024/25.

The majority of BEIS R&D funding has been allocated to Department of Science Innovation and Technology, except for policy areas where responsibility sits with another Secretary of State. For example, the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and R&D investment by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority transfers to the Department for Energy and Net Zero.

Budget allocations for the new Departments will be confirmed in the upcoming Main Estimates 2023/24.