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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what account he has taken of his Department's report entitled What is the relationship between public and private investment in science, research and innovation published in July 2015, in determining future funding for science.

The 2015 report by Economic Insight was considered during the 2015 Spending Review, and before more recent announcements related to the National Productivity Investment Fund, together with other evidence and analysis.

The Government has a long term plan for Science, Research and Innovation. As a first step to reaching the 2.4% target, public R&D spending has been raised from around £9.5bn in 2016-17 to around £12.5bn in 2021-22. This is a total increase of £7bn over 5 years, and the biggest increase in public funding of R&D on record.

Public spending in R&D for years beyond current budgets will be considered in the next Spending Review.