Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the amount of private sector investment in research and development in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of trends in the level of such investment.

The amount of UK R&D expenditure performed by the business sector is set out in the table below¹. Expenditure in this sector increased by £1.1 billion in cash terms, to £19.9 billion in 2014 compared with 2013.

Support for business through the R&D Tax Credit scheme has continued to grow, from 9,250 companies claiming £1.0 billion on £10 billion of expenditure in 2009/10 compared with nearly 18,200 companies claiming £1.75 billion on £14.3 billion of expenditure in 2013/14.

¹ Figures are taken from the ONS publication on Business Enterprise Research and Development, 2014.The business sector figures exclude the private non-profit sector.