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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is the Government's policy for Scotland to lead the UK in research and development investment.

The Industrial Strategy shows how the government plans to invest in R&D to transform the UK economy. To do this we need to build on research and innovation excellence across the UK.

The Science and Innovation Audits (SIAs) are identifying and validating areas of potential globally competitive advantage across the UK to provide evidence to help underpin future investment decisions. Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region’s SIA on data driven innovation undertaken in wave 1 has helped to inform and evidence their Edinburgh Region City Deal which includes funding for innovation projects. Scottish SIAs in subsequent waves include the Offshore Renewable Energy SIA (North of England and Scotland) and the Enabling Technologies in Scotland’s Central Belt SIA (Published in September 2017); as well as the Maximising the Marine Economy of the Highlands and Islands SIA and the Precision Medicine in Scotland SIA (due to be published in the Summer) which are likely to be utilised in similar ways contributing to both strategy and funding decisions.

In addition, the new £115m Strength in Places Fund will support areas right across the UK to build on existing strengths in science and innovation, where proposals can demonstrate a strong impact on local productivity and enhanced collaboration.