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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for the BioYorkshire programme.

At Spending Review 2021, the Government committed to increasing public research and development (R&D) expenditure to £20 billion per annum by 2024/2025, the largest ever sustained uplift. The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up by building on existing and emerging strengths across the country and supporting high-skill jobs.

The North and North Yorkshire devolution deal, published in August 2022, commits that Innovate UK, within UK Research and Innovation will work with the York and North Yorkshire Combine Authority to formally recognise and seek opportunities to support the BioYorkshire cluster.