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The chancellor has announced in the autumn statement and comprehensive spending review that the science budget will increase in real terms to £4.7 billion, while the budget for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will be cut by 17%, for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by 15% and the Department for Energy and Climate Change by 22%.
Professor Steve Busby, University of Birmingham and Chair of the Executive Committee, Biochemical Society, said:
“We welcome the fact that the Government has listened to the science community and provided us with some reassurance about the science budget. It’s great to see commitment to invest in antimicrobial resistance research and key genomics projects, both important areas for molecular bioscience. We also support the proposed investment in recruiting STEM teachers, a necessity to inspire future generations and further build the biosciences community. The promise to strengthen the communication between the science community and the Government, providing an integrated and strategic approach through the proposed implementation of the Nurse review is also encouraging.
“We will be examining the implications of the spending review as the details of the settlements become clear and working closely with other science organisations to provide a unified voice and represent the science community.”
Prof. Richard Reece, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Manchester, and Trustee of the Biochemical Society
“It is pleasing to see that the Chancellor has recognised that the flat-cash settlements for science are no longer sustainable and are damaging the ability of the UK to compete on the world stage. The real-terms protection of the science budget is welcome, particularly in the light of previously predicted cuts. I would like to see more details on how the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is going to be built. Infrastructure links are clearly required, but the ability of Northern cities to drive forward UK and world science will depend on much more. The withdrawal of HE maintenance grants does, however, have the potential to significantly negatively influence student attendance at many of the higher education institutions that will form the heart of the Northern Powerhouse.”
Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said:
“The Chancellor rightly declared the UK to be brilliant at science and by protecting the science budget in real terms he is giving British scientists an improved chance of maintaining our global leadership, improving lives and driving the economy. The last five years have seen cuts to the science budget of around £1 billion, so protection from such cuts over the next five years is to be welcomed. This settlement does, however, still leave us well behind our competitors in terms of the percentage of our GDP we spend on research. There is also still detail to be looked at and we will be doing that over the coming hours and days.”
Andy Bell, spokesman for Mental Health Policy Group and Deputy Chief Executive of the Centre for Mental Health, said:
“The Chancellor’s decision to highlight mental health in the Spending Review today is welcome. While the announcement of additional funding for mental health services is a good start, it is vital that we see more investment in mental health from NHS England going forward if we are to achieve the turnaround we so desperately need. We hope that NHS England will follow the Chancellor’s lead in responding to the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce early next year, to ensure that the funding translates to real change and focused investment on the ground.
“There are, however, sizeable question marks around many of the wider issues facing people with mental health problems. We are particularly concerned about potential cuts to public health budgets in this parliament and continued pressures on social care and housing, which all have the potential to have a major impact on people with mental health problems and their families. We are simply not investing enough in preventing mental health problems in the first place, leaving people to become more unwell and in need of more long-term and costly treatment.
“This is all the more damaging considering that five consecutive years of cuts have left mental health services stretched to their very limits, while demand for services continues to increase. The social and economic cost of mental health problems is currently estimated at over £100bn a year, including a personal cost which we cannot ignore. We all have mental health as we do physical health, and we deserve services that support them both equally when we are unwell. We are therefore calling on the Government and NHS England to clarify their spending commitments around mental health to ensure that it receives its fair share for each of the next five years.”
Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, President of the British Psychological Society, said:
“We in the British Psychological Society warmly welcome the Chancellor’s announcement, in his Autumn Statement, of £10bn for health and especially the £600m funding for mental health, and we also roundly applaud the efforts of Norman Lamb MP, Alistair Campbell, Ruby Wax and others for keeping this hugely important issue on the agenda, and of Alastair Burt MP, the Community and Social Care Minister, for keeping psychological health among his top priorities. We particularly welcome the emphasis that is going to be placed on crisis care, talking therapies and perinatal mental health care.
“At the same time, we are naturally concerned about the £12bn in targeted welfare savings ‘to be delivered in full’, that ‘conditions for benefits’ will be extended and that the DWP budget will be cut by 14% because we are particularly aware of the damaging effects that such measures have on psychological health, as highlighted in recent news and as we have been alerting the Government to for a considerable time.
“All that we would ask is that as much effort as possible is put into redressing the issue of the ‘postcode lottery’ that still exists, to bridging the gap that exists where people are bounced between outpatient care for moderate psychological health issues and inpatient and crisis care for severe psychological health problems (and where, far too often, people ‘fall between the cracks’ between services offered) and to ensuring that all ‘talking therapies’ (psychological therapies, psychotherapy and counselling) are evidence-based, appropriately located and professionally supervised and delivered.”
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:
“The £600m of pledged additional funding for mental health as part of the NHS funding deal will help stabilise current pressures, particularly in crisis care, perinatal mental health and talking therapies, and is good news. We hope that this will also help in the roll-out of the mental health access and waiting time standard, which was pledged earlier by Government, subject to funding. We look forward to publication of the Mental Health Taskforce report in the New Year, and NHS England’s plans for resourcing its recommendations. The NHS spend however is only part of the picture. We need to look more widely at the impact of budget cuts to social care, workforce education and public health, all of which are critical in the delivery of mental health services and care for patients.”
Professor Peter Openshaw, President of British Society for Immunology, said:
“The British Society for Immunology welcomes the announcement by the UK Government in today’s Comprehensive Spending review that the science budget will be protected in real terms, and that there will be extra money for the NHS. The UK’s ability to conduct high-quality, cutting edge fundamental research is a critical factor in our ability to understand the science behind immunological and infectious disease and to find new approaches to prevention and treatment of these important and sometimes devastating conditions. Science and innovation are key factors in growing this country’s economy and contributing to our national successes. Good science costs money, but is well worth the investment.
“We are also pleased to see investment in genomics, antimicrobial resistance research and the establishment of the £1bn Ross Fund to invest in drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and treatments to combat infectious disease worldwide in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the announcement of the £1.5m Global Challenges Fund to tackle problems faced by developing countries.
“However, we are concerned that the proposed cuts and changes to the public health budget may impact on the preventative and surveillance services that underpin the UK’s excellent vaccine programmes. Public health plays a critical role in preventing disease, preserving good health and saving the a great deal of expense in treating preventable disease. George Osborne said that his aim was to “develop a modern, integrated, health and social care system that supports people at every stage of their lives”. Public health has to be a vital part of this strategy, and a decrease spend on this aspect will undoubtedlycost the NHS more in the long term.
“There still are important details to come out, particularly with respect to changes in the Research Excellence Framework and the implications of the Comprehensive Spending Review for our universities. We will be analysing this and subsequent statements carefully.”
Professor James Wilsdon, Chair of Campaign for Social Science, said:
“The Campaign for Social Science welcomes the relative protection given to the science budget in the spending review, but it’s premature to see this as a good outcome for the long-term health of UK research until we have the full details on which to base an evidence-informed judgement.
“In 2015-2016, the science budget allocation was £4,691m[1], so a headline commitment to “protecting today’s £4.7 billion science resource funding in real terms”, in an almost zero-inflation environment, means no more than continued flat cash. We also need to understand what is being tucked into that £4.7 billion, and how much will be transferred across from DfID’s aid budget – for example, the £1.5 billion for the Global Challenges Fund – and with what constraints.
“Similarly, the Chancellor’s commitment to implement the Nurse Review leaves open lots of questions about how the newly merged body – Research UK – will operate in practice. Will its new cross-disciplinary fund be top-sliced, and how much will this erode existing research council budgets? Will the non-loan elements of Innovate’s UK budget be included? And how will the quality-related elements of the dual support system be protected?
“On top of the many questions posed in the HE green paper, and the considerable scope for flexible interpretation of Nurse’s recommendations, we now have an additional review – announced today – of the Research Excellence Framework. Will this be an in-house exercise within BIS, or an open, transparent process, to which the research community can submit evidence? A huge amount is still up in the air, and until all of the pieces land, and can be properly assembled, we won’t really know where we stand.
“Today’s announcements also do little to reverse the broader trend of declining public investment in the generation of new knowledge. By 2020 the proportion of GDP being dedicated to publicly supported research and development will fall even further below its level in 2010 and may put greater distance between the UK and comparable countries.
“Social science research may also be a casualty of the cuts in Whitehall spending. Analytical staff and research commissioned by departments and agencies are bound to feel the effects of the substantial reductions in ‘administration’ announced by the Treasury. While the relative increase in the budget for the Office of National Statistics is welcome, the National Statistician John Pullinger and colleagues need adequate resources to prepare for the decennial census due in 2021.
“It is vital that social science perspectives, alongside those from the natural sciences, engineering, arts and humanities, play an active role in informing debates about the future shape and remit of the research councils, the REF and the new ministerial science committee.”
Alison Clough, Acting Chief Executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said:
“We’re pleased that the Government has said it is committed to protecting the science budget in real terms. This recognises the importance that world-leading science brings to the economy and UK patients.
“We need more detail about £1.5billion of the existing science budget being earmarked for a new ‘global challenges fund’ and any impact this may have on the current research environment.
“Promising to protect the budget, while at the same time adding new funding commitments could mean a cut in real terms.
“The announcement of cuts to BIS, changes in higher education funding, the implementation of the Nurse review and the move from business grants to loans from Innovate UK, may cause upheaval and impact on the UK’s global competitiveness in science and innovation. We want to work with the Government to address these issues on behalf of our industry.”
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:
“I am reassured to see the Government protecting its current level of investment in science. Along with hundreds of life science organisations, the Wellcome Trust’s investment in the UK’s world-leading research depends on the diverse public funding streams the country has.
“However, policies that essentially amount to flat cash – even if protected in real terms – can only be absorbed for a limited time. In the long term we hope to see the tide turn towards an increase in the stable, long-term investment by Government that is essential to strengthening the UK’s global competitiveness, increasing employment opportunities, and delivering wide-ranging societal and health benefits.
“Also welcome is the Chancellor’s commitment to implementing the recommendations of the review of the UK Research Councils, which play a vital role in the funding ecosystem. Enabling more effective coordination of the individual Councils’ activities through the reconfigured umbrella body Research UK will help to maintain the UK’s position as a global leader of research.
“We will be examining the full implications of the spending review as the detail of the departmental settlements becomes clear.”
Philip Greenish CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, says:
“The Royal Academy of Engineering strongly welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment today to protect the UK science budget in real terms and drive forward Industrial Strategy with continued support for key sectors of the economy. The Chancellor knows that innovation, alongside research, is absolutely vital to social and economic growth: between 2000 and 2008, innovation accounted for half of the UK’s productivity growth. It is therefore also good news that innovation funding will be protected in cash terms and we look forward to further clarity and discussion about the new mechanisms being developed to support innovation to ensure that global companies continue to invest in UK R&D and manufacturing.
“The introduction of a new Global Challenges Research Fund represents an excellent opportunity to build on our world-leading science research. Enhanced spending on vital infrastructure projects is also important for regional development.”
Imran Khan, Chief Executive, British Science Association, said:
“For the sake of our future health and prosperity, we need science to become a bigger and more fundamental part of Britain’s culture and national identity. This commitment by the Chancellor to sustained investment in research, rising in line with inflation, is a great first step – and hugely welcome news.”
Naomi Weir, Acting Director of CaSE, said:
“I’m delighted to hear the Chancellor backing science with real investment for the next five years. This announcement is great news for the UK and provides a platform to build on for future success.
“This spending review brings some very welcome good news for UK science. It has delivered real investment in science, a decade of support for an industrial strategy, cash protection for Innovate UK, real terms protection of funding for high-cost subjects in HE, and some much needed protection for adult skills funding.
“Committing to invest in science and innovation, is investing for the future: creating high-value jobs, driving productivity, and catalysing economic growth. It will have far reaching benefits in education, security and resilience, and health. There are undoubtedly some details to unpick, but it is encouraging on many counts to see that the government has listened to the science community and made an evidence-informed decision to back science and engineering in today’s Spending Review.”
Professor Dominic Tildesley, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said:
“UK science has continually proven it presents value for money and it is hugely encouraging to see our science base recognised as a vital part of the infrastructure needed to build a growing, knowledge-based economy.
“Tackling global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance and climate change is crucial for all of us and we welcome the focus on science’s contribution to that fight.
“As Science Minister Jo Johnson points out, science is vital to our prosperity and security and we are delighted that the Chancellor has so clearly recognised the value that science delivers to our economy – particularly recognising cuts elsewhere.”
Professor Sir John Tooke FMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said:
“We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of an inflation-linked settlement for research spending, and look forward to exploring the details of today’s announcement. The sector has worked hard to find economies during the previous flat-cash settlement, and this process will need to continue, but an inflation-linked budget will provide the necessary stability to build on achievements to date.
“In a wider landscape of shrinking budgets, we’re grateful that the Chancellor has recognised the need to protect research for the long-term benefit of the UK. The positive impact of UK research cuts across society, and the recent REF exercise highlighted many outstanding examples. From within our own community, there is the research at the University of Exeter that identified a new treatment for neonatal diabetes which replaced regular injections with a simple pill, or the research which led to a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, now the fourth best-selling drug worldwide. It is these innovative ideas and treatments that the science budget helps support, and we’re pleased to see the Chancellor protect the future of such pioneering work today.
“We regard the deployment of Overseas Development Aid resource as a powerful means by which UK science can tackle issues of global significance. The Academy stands ready to work with Government, including the Department of International Development, to ensure this investment supports excellence across the translational spectrum. This will require coordination across Departments, and careful consideration around how to work within the recommendations of the Nurse Review which the Chancellor has committed to implementing.”
Professor Paul Hardaker, Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics, said:
“To grow our economy and create jobs, the UK must be competitive and that means investing in science and bringing that science to market.
“George Osborne has announced today that the £4.7bn science budget has been protected in real-terms over the period of this Parliament. It shows that this Government is committed to investing in science, and ensuring that we maximise the potential economic and societal gains from doing so in the future. This will help UK science but we still need to be mindful of how this compares to higher investment by international competitors.
“We will work with our colleagues across science and education to examine the detail of the Spending Review to better understand the implications and the spending power of these commitments.
“We also hope that detail in the settlement for the Department for Education will allow us to continue our transformative work to improve physics education.”
Dr Jenny Rohn, Chair of Science is Vital, said:
“We were relieved that the science budget was not cut as feared, and that it has been given real-terms protection going forward in the face of decreases elsewhere. However, we need to see the details, as it is conceivable that other items might be ‘tucked into’ that budget. Moreover, the exact meaning of “real-term protection for the rest of the Parliament” is still unclear. As it stands, this science budget appears to be smaller than in 2010 thanks to preceding inflation, and will continue to shrink both as a fraction of GDP and per capita.
“Science badly needed a robust, long-term investment in this Spending Review to recover from five years of flat cash, but today’s outcome could have been much worse.”
Dr Mark Downs, Chief Executive of Royal Society of Biology, said:
“The Chancellor has said that we must fund the things we want to invest in, and focus not just on retrenchment but reform and rebuild the economy.
“Science research and development is a clear engine to rebuild and grow the economy, and to provide the societal benefits in which people want to invest.
“We welcome the fact that the Chancellor and Ministers have listened to the science community, recognising that backing science backs business and supports society, by offering to protect science funding in real terms. The community will be examining the full implications of the Chancellor’s plans, including the impact of departmental settlements and the scope of the science budget, and developing our response.”
Professor Philip Nelson, Chair of the Research Councils UK Executive Group, said:
“Our world-class research is the engine that drives growth, improves health and increases quality of life in the UK and beyond. We welcome the Government’s clear recognition of this in the Comprehensive Spending Review – protecting the value of the research budget and ensuring an absolute cash increase.
“Across Government there are programmes facing significant cuts and against this background we acknowledge the value the Government has placed on research with this settlement. It means that the UK’s research base will be able to maintain its world-class research outputs, continue to partner with and attract industry, maintain its flow of trained researchers into the economy and society and continue to inspire the next generation.
“The new £1.5bn Global Challenges Research Fund to be delivered over the next 5 years as part of this settlement will enable the deployment of the UK’s research strengths, across all disciplines, to help meet social, environmental and health challenges across the world. The Research Councils will build on our existing strong partnerships with colleagues at the Department for International Development and other government departments to help develop and deliver this initiative.
“The Research Councils will now turn our attention to working closely with Government to develop the details of the research budget for the Councils and the allocation of funding to specific Council budget lines.
“Against this backdrop we remain committed to make every pound work hard to deliver high impact research and will be continuing our focus on reducing the operational costs of the Councils.”
Declared interests
On this occasion the SMC has not asked for declarations of interests as we consider everyone to be an interested party.