The Government has confirmed that the largest-ever research and development budget, worth £39.8 billion, has been allocated across the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s partner organisations.
The allocations will allow the Government to deliver on the targets set out in the Innovation Strategy, with these investments supporting the Government’s commitment to ensure total R&D spending reaches 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
This includes full funding for EU programmes, for which £6.8 billion has been allocated to support the UK’s association with Horizon Europe, Euratom Research & Training, and Fusion for Energy. If the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe, the funding allocated to Horizon association will go to UK government R&D programmes, including those to support new international partnerships.
A significant proportion of the budget has been allocated to UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), which will receive over £25 billion across the next 3 years, reaching over £8.8 billion in 2024-2025, and over £1 billion more than in 2021-2022. This will include an increase in funding for core Innovate UK programmes by 66% to £1.1 billion in 2024-2025, helping connect companies to the capital, skills and connections they need to innovate and grow.
The UK Space Agency’s budget will also grow to over £600 million by 2024-2025, recognising the fact that our world-leading space sector adds nearly £16 billion to UK GDP while underpinning complementary parts of the economy including finance, logistics and agriculture.