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<p>The Government is committed to maintaining the UK’s position as a world leader
in science and innovation and has introduced a wide range of policies to stimulate
private sector investment in Research and Development, ranging from increases in government
funding of R&D to improvements to the wider institutional and tax environment
for R&D and a new patient capital investment programme. Internationally, the UK
is a highly attractive place for R&D, ranking 4<sup>th</sup> on the 2018 global
innovation index.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2016, the Government has committed an additional
£7bn of public funding to R&D by 2021-22. This is the largest boost by any government
for 40 years and will leverage significant private investment. On average, every public
pound spent on R&D generates an additional £1.36 of private spending. In addition,
support for businesses through R&D tax credits has tripled since 2010, reaching
£3.5 billion in 2016/17.</p><p> </p><p>At Autumn Budget 2017, the government announced
a 10-year action plan to unlock over £20bn to finance growth in innovative firms,
including launching a new £2.5bn investment programme, British Patient Capital, and
extending the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs).</p><p>
</p><p>Taken together, these policies will accelerate private investment in R&D,
building on the healthy real-terms growth of 26 per cent we experienced between 2010
and 2016 (the last year of official data).</p>
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