Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent estimate she has made of the timescale to set up (a) the Pioneer (i) talent offer, (ii) innovation strand, (iii) global strand, excluding the International Science Partnerships Fund and (b) transitional measures prior to the full launch of Pioneer; and if she will make a statement.

Whilst the UK hopes negotiations on Horizon Europe will be successful, and that is our preference, the Government is prepared to support the UK’s R&D sector by implementing Pioneer.

The first stage of Pioneer is designed to go live within weeks of a decision and consists of a suite of short-term measures. Longer term programmes would then follow.

All aspects of the programme, short and long-term, would be delivered by existing trusted and experienced UK delivery partners, such as UK Research & Innovation and the National Academies who are used to delivering R&D funding at scale.