Rishi Sunak has set out plans for the UK government to increase research and development spending by ?1.4 billion a year by 2023-24, but failed to confirm whether its pledge to hit total spending of ?22 billion by the following year will be met.

The government¡¯s one-year spending review, announced on 25 November, set out a multi-year settlement for research to aid long-term planning ¨C which had been a key request from research leaders.

Mr Sunak ¨C who did not mention the government¡¯s Further Education White Paper and response to the Augar review of post-18 education, which had been thought to be imminent ¨C said that the research investment would make the UK a ¡°scientific superpower¡±.

In 2017, the government committed to spending 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product on research and development spending within 10 years.

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And the Conservative manifesto at the 2019 election pledged to double research and development spending to ?18 billion by 2024-25 ¨C a pledge exceeded by Mr Sunak in his March 2020 budget when he said that it would hit ?22 billion by that year.

The??published alongside Mr Sunak¡¯s speech says that ¡°by 2023-24 the government will be investing ?1.4 billion more per year in core funding for its world-leading research base¡±.

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When it comes to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ¨C which is responsible for the bulk of the research budget ¨C the spending review document details spending for Dominic Cummings¡¯ planned ¡°high-risk high-pay off¡± research agency of ?300 million by 2024-25, along with ?600 million for net zero programmes.

But no figure is given for the BEIS ¡°core research¡± budget in 2024-25, with the Treasury document confining itself to a figure of ?5.8 billion in 2023-24, up from ?4.8 billion in 2021-22.

However, those figures are for BEIS only, and do not take into account research and development spending via other departments.

The Treasury document says that BEIS ¡°has been allocated ?11.1 billion R&D funding (out of an overall government R&D package of ?14.6 billion)¡±, which includes an ¡°uplift of over ?400 million on average per year until 2023-24 for core UK Research and Innovation science¡±, plus ¡°at least ?490 million in 2021-22 for Innovate UK core programmes and infrastructure to support ground-breaking technologies and businesses¡±.

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On Brexit and research, the spending review document says: ¡°Negotiations over the UK¡¯s future relationship with the EU, including Horizon [the EU¡¯s research programme], are still ongoing. Whatever the outcome of those negotiations, the government is committed to maintaining and enhancing the UK¡¯s position at the forefront of global science collaboration.¡±

However, on the EU¡¯s Erasmus+ student mobility programme, the Treasury did say that the Department for Education¡¯s spending review settlement ¡°provides funding to prepare for a UK-wide domestic alternative to Erasmus+, in the event that the UK no longer participates in Erasmus+, to fund outward global education mobilities. The government will set out further details in due course.¡±

Graeme Reid, chair of science and research policy at UCL, said: ¡°This is a very difficult time to have a spending review: a few weeks before the relationship with the EU is settled ¨C one way or another ¨C and with Covid creating unpredictable pressure on public spending.?It comes as no surprise that increases in science are lower than announced earlier this year.?

¡°Does this mean the ?22 billion commitment and the 2.4 per cent commitment have been ditched??I can¡¯t tell.?I suspect we must wait another year before we get a spending review that sets a longer agenda.¡±

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Professor Reid noted that ¡°we need to wait for details from government departments [beyond BEIS] before we can work out the overall budget for R&D¡±.

Kieron Flanagan, senior lecturer in science and technology policy?at the University of Manchester, said that ¡°based on what we¡¯ve seen in the document today either science budget increases will have to be heavily back-loaded ¨C which is after all the default UK government way of doing things¡± in 2024-25, ¡°or the non-BEIS, non-science budget¡± for research and development in other departments ¡°will have to grow a lot to deliver the ?22 billion by 2024-25¡±.

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com