Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to increase spending on research and development in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.

DSIT will invest a record £58.5 billion in R&D from 2026/27 to 2029/30, part of the £86 billion announced by the Chancellor—the largest government R&D investment ever.

UKRI investment in Lincolnshire increased by 43% between 2022/23 and 2023/24. Investment in the East Midlands also rose by 19%, reaching £596 million.

Lincolnshire and the East Midlands can bid for up to £20 million through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, to grow their high-potential innovation clusters. The fund empowers partnerships across the UK to target local R&D investment and aims to generate at least £1 billion of private co-investment across the programme.