Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support investment in science research at universities in the West Midlands.
The Government is fully committed to maintaining the UK’s world-leading science, research and higher education base.
According to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data, eleven institutions in the West Midlands, which includes the Universities of Warwick; Birmingham; and Aston, received public research funding from Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Research Councils totalling £188 million in 2015/16.
The Autumn Statement 2016 announcement of an extra £2 billion a year in research and development by 2020-21 underlines the place of science and innovation at the heart of this Government’s industrial strategy.