Vallance defends devolved research fund as impact questioned

Science minister Patrick Vallance has defended his efforts to rebalance research funding across the UK after MPs noted that a new scheme to devolve innovation spending to metro mayors will account for less than 1 per cent of research expenditure.

Ahead of the June spending review, up to £500 million has been announced for a new Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, which will give directly elected mayors a say on how to use the money.

Based on Innovate UK’s Innovation Accelerator pilot scheme in Glasgow, Manchester and the West Midlands, dedicated awards of at least £30 million will be provided for each of England’s seven established mayoral strategic authorities – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Liverpool, the North East and Greater London – plus one equivalent region in each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to be agreed with the devolved administrations.

Asked about the scheme by the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee in its final session on growth, innovation and the regions, Vallance confirmed that the £500 million spend will be spread across the entirety of the four-year spending review, during which the UK government will invest £86 billion in research, with expenditure rising to £22.5 billion a year by 2029-30.

That meant the new scheme represented “less than 1 per cent” of science spending, observed the committee’s chair Chi Onwurah, who commented that, in terms of distributing research funding more evenly across the UK, this is “hardly a big leap forward”.

Discussing the broader issue of how the UK’s research budget is spread across the country, Vallance told MPs he was keen to see excellent research being funded in all parts of the country, noting the higher proportion of UK Research and Innovation funding awarded to institutions outside London and the Greater South East, a region often referred to as the golden triangle.

“I am pleased we are already seeing a shift in UKRI funding so that more than 50 per cent is outside London and the Greater South East,” said Vallance, noting that this has risen to 57 per cent for Innovate UK.

Vallance, who was chief scientific adviser to the UK government during the pandemic, said, however, that funding for curiosity-driven research is always likely to skew towards institutions with a strong track record of excellence. “It’s not a case of jam for everybody,” he said.

However, the same need to concentrate innovation funding on a select few institutions was not so pressing, Vallance continued, noting “it is easier to think how you might put some targets” on innovation funding “particularly when you think about industrial strategy”.

The emphasis on science spending’s wider role in supporting regional innovation – signalled by the government’s backing for the new Local Innovation Partnerships Fund and Vallance’s comments – marks an important turning point in UK science policy, said Kieron Flanagan, professor of science and technology policy at the University of Manchester, who has long championed the devolution of UK research spending to the regional authorities.

“It feels like the principle has been accepted that there is very important geographical and economic development role to be played by R&D spending,” Flanagan told Times Higher Education.

“In terms of funding, it’s still quite tentative but it’s a big deal given the direction of travel – it’s saying you don’t need to concentrate all your research funding within a few places if you want to keep up with the world’s leading scientific nations,” continued Flanagan.

While questions remain on the mechanics of how funding will be decided jointly by UKRI and metro mayors, the shift in funding should be welcomed by most UK universities, he said.

“It’s only really a consolation level of funding but it’s a positive step, particularly if it helps institutions compete more effectively for other R&D funding.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com