Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of research scientists who have left the UK in the past three years to move to EU countries in order to take up European Research Council grants; and, based on previous levels of income to UK from Horizon, what is their estimate of the amount lost to UK research as a result of the gap in UK membership of the scheme.

The Government has made no assessment of the number of research scientists leaving the UK.

The Government’s Horizon Europe Guarantee scheme maintained a lifeline for UK researchers and businesses by guaranteeing the funding of bids into the Horizon Europe programme, meaning no UK researchers have been left out of pocket, nor needed to leave the UK. The Guarantee scheme has issued over 2,500 grant offers worth £1.35 billion to the end of August 2023.