HC Deb 20 May 2002 vol 386 cc28-9W
Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent by her Department on research funding for universities for each year since 1997. [53678]

Margaret Hodge

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funds the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which then allocates research funding to higher education institutions in England. The following table outlines the allocations made by HEFCE using research criteria per year since 1997. The table includes DfES spending via the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) and the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF). Over and above this, the Government and the Welcome Trust have made available £750 million via the JIF and £900 million via the SRIF for capital investment in higher education research infrastructure in science and technology. Furthermore Research Council funding for research and development will rise from £1,279 million in 1997–98 to £1,793 million in 2002–03 of which a significant proportion goes to higher education institutions as research grants.

Research funding for higher education in England
£ million
Outturn
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Plans 2002–03
Recurrent and special research grants 720.2 841.0 871.7 884.1 905.7 940.0
Research capital spend 8.0 35.9 44.2 39.9 81.9 264.8

Note:

This table covers recurrent research and special research grants (academic years) and research capital infrastructure investment (financial years). Figures for recurrent and special research grants for 1998–99 onwards include London extra costs, and funds for the supervision and tuition of postgraduate students. Figures for research capital include HEFCE funding for the following schemes: Joint Research Equipment Initiative, Joint Infrastructure Fund. Science Research Investment Fund and the Research Laboratories Scheme.

Source:

HEFCE Analytical Services Group. Data prepared 26 April 2002.