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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage private sector investment in high risk high reward research in the UK.

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 £14.9 billion in R&D in 2021/22. This investment supports our commitments set out in the R&D Roadmap as we build towards UK R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP by 2027.

Leveraging investment from the private sector will be vital to reach the 2.4% target and achieve our ambitions for innovation. The Government has already set out at Budget a range of measures to boost private investment in research and development, including a review of R&D tax reliefs, supported by a consultation with stakeholders, and £375 million to introduce Future Fund: Breakthrough, a new direct co-investment product to support the scale up of the most innovative, R&D-intensive businesses.

The Government is also establishing the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), focusing exclusively on high-risk, high-reward research with a budget of £800m up to 2024/25. ARIA projects will be able to attract private co-financing as part of a new and creative approach to funding.

These developments will complement our existing incentives for private R&D investment and, as the Plan for Growth set out at Budget, BEIS will also publish an Innovation Strategy this summer with a view to providing the private sector the confidence to invest as we look to Build Back Better.