Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of R&D tax credits in encouraging private sector spend on R&D (a) overall and (b) by economic sector.
A study by HMRC in 2015 showed that for every £1 of tax forgone up to £2.35 of R&D is stimulated, this suggests that the current R&D tax reliefs schemes are effective at encouraging additional investment in R&D. R&D tax reliefs are available to any company in any sector undertaking R&D projects seeking an advance in science or technology.