House of Lords written statement – made at on 20 December 2010.
Baroness Wilcox
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
My Right Honourable Friend the Minister of State for Universities and Science (David Willetts) has today made the following Statement.
The coalition Government are publishing today the allocation of science and research funding for 2011-12 to 2014-15.
Our world-class science and research base is inherently valuable, as well as critical to promoting economic growth. Despite enormous pressure on public spending, the £4.6 billion per annum funding for science and research programmes has been protected in cash terms and ring-fenced against future pressures during the spending review period. For the first time, HE research funding in England has been included within this ring-fence, providing overall stability and certainty to the research base.
Allocations for resource are set out in table 1, below, and allocations for capital are in table 2.
This Government are committed to efficiency, prioritisation and reform. We shall delay capital investment to maximise investment in research projects and in people undertaking research. The Government intend to announce during 2011 the allocation of funding to a small number of further projects on the 2010 large facilities roadmap
Savings from improved efficiency will be recycled directly within the ring-fence. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will reform its quality-related (QR) funding for research with a greater focus on research excellence and reform higher-education innovation funding with a greater focus on business interaction.
Collaboration is one of the key themes of these allocations. There will be significant collaboration among research councils, and among universities, tackling issues of national importance, often working with the TSB.
There will also be greater coherence among HEFCE and the research councils. For example, HEFCE and the research councils will work together so that support and incentives to bring universities and business closer together are delivered coherently.
These allocations provide funding for the arts, humanities and social sciences as well as STEM to pursue vital research. Outstanding researchers in all fields will be funded to pursue curiosity-driven work and to define their own areas of scholarship. We are also putting the new UK Space Agency on a firm footing.
The allocation will allow research councils, HEFCE and the national academies to maintain the flow of talented new researchers and maintain national capability. It will enable them to provide researchers with access to key large-scale research infrastructure, both here and abroad. Funding bodies will concentrate on research centres of proven excellence, with the critical mass to address national challenges and compete internationally and the expertise to collaborate with business.
A copy of the allocation document has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The grant letter sent by the Secretary of State to HEFCE today also includes details relevant to science and research funding. A copy of that letter has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
| Table 1: Resource | |||||||
| Baseline 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | Totals | Final Year to Baseline | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | ||
| Research Councils | 2,549,353 | 2,596,196 | 2,573,678 | 2,586,641 | 2,599,812 | 10,356,327 | 101.98% |
| AHRC | 100,717 | 99,881 | 98,370 | 98,370 | 98,370 | 394,993 | 97.67% |
| BBSRC | 362,341 | 370,306 | 359,471 | 351,471 | 351,471 | 1,432,718 | 97.00% |
| ESRC | 158,061 | 155,690 | 153,319 | 153,319 | 153,319 | 615,648 | 97.00% |
| EPSRC | 771,289 | 759,720 | 748,150 | 748,150 | 748,150 | 3,004,171 | 97.00% |
| MRC | 545,585 | 536,172 | 546,243 | 559,894 | 574,641 | 2,216,950 | 105.33% |
| NERC | 298,071 | 298,600 | 297,129 | 300,129 | 289,129 | 1,184,987 | 97.00% |
| STFC-core programme | 177,519 | 190,060 | 172,200 | 172,200 | 172,190 | 706,650 | 97.00% |
| STFC-cross-council facilities1 | 66,800 | 77,170 | 79,280 | 81,410 | 89,470 | 327,330 | 133.94% |
| STFC-international subscriptions2 | 68,970 | 108,598 | 119,515 | 121,697 | 123,071 | 472,881 | 178.44% |
| HEFCE | 1,731,300 | 1,662,112 | 1,699,578 | 1,685,689 | 1,686,321 | 6,733,700 | 97.40% |
| QR Research | 1,618,300 | 1,549,112 | 1,586,578 | 1,572,689 | 1,573,321 | 6,281,700 | 97.22% |
| HEIF3 | 113,000 | 113,000 | 113,000 | 113,000 | 113,000 | 452,000 | 100.00% |
| National Academies | 87,832 | 87,465 | 86,547 | 86,547 | 86,547 | 347,106 | 98.54% |
| Royal Society | 48,558 | 47,830 | 47,101 | 47,101 | 47,101 | 189,133 | 97.00% |
| British Academy | 26,448 | 27,001 | 27,005 | 27,005 | 27,005 | 108,015 | 102.10% |
| Royal Academy of Engineering | 12,826 | 12,634 | 12,441 | 12,441 | 12,441 | 49,957 | 97.00% |
| Other Programmes | 43,616 | 24,496 | 24,140 | 24,165 | 24,005 | 96,805 | 55.04% |
| Science and Society | 15,441 | 13,000 | 13,000 | 13,000 | 13,000 | 52,000 | 84.19% |
| International | 5,104 | 5,095 | 4,740 | 4,765 | 4,605 | 19,205 | 90.22% |
| Foresight | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,800 | 11,200 | 100.00% |
| Evidence and Evaluation | 20,271 | 3,600 | 3,600 | 3,600 | 3,600 | 14,400 | 46.32% |
| UK Space Agency | 163,805 | 205,637 | 191,963 | 192,864 | 179,221 | 769,685 | 109.41% |
| Total S&R Resource | 4,575,906 | 4,575,906 | 4,575,906 | 4,575,906 | 4,575,906 | 18,303,622 | 100.00% |
1 Operated by STFC on behalf of all research councils.
2 Managed by STFC on behalf of all research councils. Total resource expenditure on international subscriptions in 2010-11, including the additional exchange rate costs, was £103 million. The SR10 allocations are at the exchange rates prevailing in early December 2010 and reflect a shift in funding from capital to resource.
3 HEIF will also include £37 million pa from HEFCE, taking the total for each year to £150 million.
Table 2: Capital
Note these figures are indicative for the three years from 2012-13 to 2014-15
| Council | Baseline 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | Total | Final Year to Baseline |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | ||
| Research Councils | 393,438 | 239,821 | 199,393 | 181,430 | 180,967 | 801,611 | 46.00% |
| AHRC | 3,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| BBSRC | 66,480 | 38,000 | 29,700 | 29,700 | 29,700 | 127,100 | 44.68% |
| ESRC | 20,600 | 18,700 | 13,700 | 12,700 | 12,700 | 57,800 | 61.65% |
| EPSRC | 49,261 | 31,000 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 116,000 | 50.75% |
| MRC | 134,517 | 33,000 | 29,000 | 31,000 | 31,000 | 124,000 | 23.05% |
| NERC | 34,183 | 32,200 | 17,800 | 17,800 | 17,800 | 85,600 | 52.07% |
| STFC-core programme | 85,247 | 19,630 | 21,981 | 14,237 | 14,169 | 70,017 | 75.98% |
| STFC-cross-council facilities | 21,070 | 21,919 | 22,463 | 22,931 | 88,383 | ||
| STFC-international subscriptions4 | 46,221 | 30,293 | 28,530 | 27,667 | 132,711 | ||
| Large Facilities Capital Fund | 103,380 | 115,279 | 61,307 | 47,769 | 128,132 | 352,487 | 123.94% |
| UK Space Agency | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 76,000 | 100.00% |
| HEI Capital HEFCE | 166,952 | 75,170 | 90,970 | 90,160 | 101,500 | 357,800 | 60.80% |
| HEI Research Capital England | 158,420 | 53,199 | 64,377 | 63,810 | 71,831 | 253,217 | 45.34% |
| HEI Research Capital Scotland5 | 23,622 | 8,620 | 10,431 | 10,339 | 11,639 | 41,029 | 49.27% |
| HEI Research Capital Wales5 | 6,031 | 2,113 | 2,557 | 2,535 | 2,854 | 10,059 | 47.32% |
| HEI Research Capital N. Ireland5 | 1,778 | 798 | 965 | 957 | 1,077 | 3,797 | 60.57% |
| Total | 872,621 | 514,000 | 449,000 | 416,000 | 517,000 | 1,896,000 | 59.25% |
4 This figure reflects a shift from capital to resource.
5 These funds are allocated on the basis that they will be supplemented by further funding from each of the devolved HE funding bodies.
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