Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to incentivise R&D investment in the United Kingdom.

R&D investment in the UK is 2.8% of GDP, ahead of the OECD average of 2.7%. To further incentivise R&D investment, we are supporting innovators with a record £20.4 billion in R&D spending for 2025/26, which on average leverages £2 of private R&D investment for every pound of public investment. The UK is also a leader in attracting international R&D investment, with the second highest number of R&D inward investment projects in Europe. We are backing high-growth firms through reforms to the British Business Bank and pensions to unlock £80 billion of investment. Our generous R&D tax relief rates are projected to support £56 billion of business R&D expenditure annually by 2029-30.