§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals he has to increase funding for research leading to innovation in public bodies and private companies. [124494]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 5 June 2000]The Government's first Comprehensive Spending Review resulted in an additional £1.0 billion support over three years for the public science and engineering base. A unique partnership with the Wellcome Trust increased this to £1.4 billion, of which £0.75 billion has been used to renew university research infrastructure through the Joint186W Infrastructure Fund. In addition the DTI's Innovation Budget is being increased by some 20 per cent. over three years to fund a number of programmes designed to drive forward a fundamental change in innovation performance in the UK. This includes for example the Smart scheme which supports R&D activities in private small and medium-sized companies and is being expanded and extended over the period 1999–2002, and the technology transfer scheme known as TCS, for which DTI is doubling its expenditure.
These and other relevant schemes are being considered in the current Spending Review. The Government are also working toward publishing a Science and Innovation White Paper later this year, which will set out our policies in this area.