Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to retain access for UK universities to EU research programmes after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government is committed to maintaining and enhancing the strength of the UK’s research base. This is why it has protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the Parliament, as well as committing to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale – £6.9 billion over the period 2015-2021.

HM Treasury’s decision to underwrite the grants of competitively bid for EU research funding will give British participants and their EU partners the assurance and certainty needed to plan ahead for projects that can stretch over many years. The Government will ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in research and innovation.