§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on trends in expenditure on business innovation over the last year. [48338]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 2 July 1998]: The annual R&D Scoreboard provides an important international benchmark of the funds UK companies invest in R&D as part of the innovation process. The 1998 Scoreboard, published on 25 June, lists the reported R&D expenditure over the last financial year of over 500 UK companies. This shows an overall increase of 6.2 per cent. in R&D expenditure to £10.5 billion, with several business sectors (including engineering, media, support services, and telecommunications) showing sizeable increases in R&D expenditure. In addition, the pharmaceuticals sector now leads the world on R&D investment as a proportion of sales, while the increase in R&D shown by the healthcare sector was three times the international average. Although there can be no room for complacency, as the 1998 CBI Innovation Trends Survey shows, it is clear that many UK businesses are investing in innovation and R&D on a par with the best in the world.