Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made in achieving the target of 2.4 per cent of GDP spending on science research; and what proportion of spending since the introduction of that target has been in the (a) public, (b) charity and (c) private sector.

The latest data published by the Office for National Statistics is for 2018, showing UK Gross Expenditure on R&D at 1.71% of GDP, an increase on the previous year’s figure. ONS plans to release data for 2019 in spring 2021.

The Government has set out plans at Spending Review to cement the UK’s status as a global leader in science and innovation by investing £14.6 billion in R&D in 2021/22.

Private investment is a major part of UK R&D spend and leveraging this investment will be key to achieving the 2.4% target. In our R&D Roadmap, published in July 2020, we set out our priorities for boosting R&D across the economy.