Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Research and Development

Wednesday 16 October 2024 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK's R&D system is vital for future prosperity and wellbeing.
  • The UK Government launched five new quantum technology hubs.
  • Investment in healthcare research and partnership hubs outside London totals 118 million.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Mark Ferguson Lab Gateshead Central and Whickham
Science & Technology
Context

The MP is concerned about steps being taken to improve domestic R&D capabilities.

Question

What steps he is taking to help improve domestic research and development capabilities. I am concerned that without proper funding and support, our local organisations will struggle to compete on a global scale.

Answer from Peter Kyle

The UK's R&D system is a central strength and vital for the future prosperity and wellbeing of our citizens. We are investing through UK Research and Innovation to continuously improve our R&D capabilities. In July we launched five new quantum technology hubs, which are delivered by UKRI and backed by over £100 million-worth of Government funding.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify measures being implemented

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Q2 Mark Ferguson Lab Gateshead Central and Whickham
Climate Energy
Context

Turbo Power Systems is a global company built on research and development in the MP's constituency.

Question

Would the Secretary of State be happy to visit it, as I have, to see its fantastic work? Turbo Power Systems is a prime example of a local organisation contributing significantly to national goals.

Answer from Peter Kyle

Of course, I look forward to visiting Turbo Power Systems the next time I am in the region and seeing the amazing work it does. It is contributing to one of the key missions of this Government, which is to get to clean superpower status by 2030.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to a visit

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Q3 Tom Gordon Lib Dem Harrogate and Knaresborough
Science & Technology
Context

Yorkshire Cancer Research has been founded for nearly a century, contributing significantly to medical research.

Question

Given that we have 8% of the population but less than 5% of R&D funding is spent on R&D in Yorkshire, what more can the Secretary of State do to ensure that R&D opportunity investment is spread across our country?

Answer from Peter Kyle

This Government are committed to investing across the whole country, and have invested £118 million in healthcare research and partnership hubs outside London. I hope that this benefits the hon. Gentleman's area too.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify steps for Yorkshire

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Q4 Chi Onwurah Lab Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Science & Technology Business & Trade
Context

The last Government committed to increasing R&D spend outside of the greater south-east by 40% by 2030.

Question

Will he say whether he intends to maintain that target, and/or what steps he will take to ensure that funding is available to drive regional growth and innovation?

Answer from Peter Kyle

This Government are committed to working with local and regional mayors to ensure that local growth plans and the partnerships with UKRI will benefit all regions. These include a £100 million innovation accelerator pilot and £80 million in launchpad programmes.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify target or funding commitment

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Q5 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
Taxation Northern Ireland Science & Technology
Context

The MP wants to know about the amount of R&D tax relief support issued to Northern Ireland.

Question

Can I ask him whether he holds statistics on how much research and development tax relief support has been issued to Northern Ireland in the last 12 months? If not, can he send me those figures?

Answer from Peter Kyle

We are a Government committed to Northern Ireland and I will be in touch with any specifics that I can follow up with. There have been great advancements in investment in Northern Ireland, which has the highest coverage rates for fast fibre-optic broadband of any part of the United Kingdom.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide or commit to providing figures

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Q6 Saqib Bhatti Con Meriden and Solihull East
Taxation Science & Technology
Context

The Secretary of State cut £1.3 billion-worth of funding for R&D in his first act as Secretary of State.

Question

Will he be setting a target, and can he today promise that there will be no cuts to R&D expenditure?

Answer from Peter Kyle

Let us just be honest about what this Government inherited. That £20 billion black hole affects every single Department across Government. My Department inherited a situation where the previous Government committed to an exascale project to which not one single penny had been committed, and I had to make the difficult decision to move forward.

Not addressed: Shifted blame to previous government

How: Blame Shifting

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