§ John AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will take steps to bridge the funding gap for research projects consequent on implementation of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. [174183]
§ Ms HewittThe 2002 Spending Review announced the largest sustained growth in science for a decade, providing an additional £1.25 billion a year by 2005 06, including
a dedicated stream of capital for Higher Education Institutions to develop their science research infrastructure;substantial new resources to Research Councils to enable them to make a higher contribution to the full costs of the research they sponsor;increased funding for the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the research component of HEI block grants, to underpin project funding.Alongside this, changes are being implemented, following consultation, to make explicit the responsibility of HEIs for ensuring the long-term sustainability of their research enterprises and to enable them to cost and price research projects more effectively, whether publicly or privately funded. Taken together these measures will, over time, make a substantial impact on the quality and sustainability of the research base.
The Government will set out its future priorities for science and innovation in a 10-year Investment Framework for Science and Innovation, to be published in the summer.