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 potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on research funding across all disciplines in universities in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Government is committed to maintain and enhance the strength of our research base. This is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament, as well as committing to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale – £6.9 billion over the period 2015-2021 – including £65 million in the North East in 2014/15.

The Treasury decision to underwrite the grants of competitively bid for EU research funding will give British participants and their EU partners the assurance and certainty needed to plan ahead for projects that can run over many years. We will ensure that the UK, including Yorkshire and the Humber, continues to be a world leader in international research and innovation.