§ 27. Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what initiatives she plans to introduce to promote British research and development.[15419]
§ Mr. BattleWe attach the greatest importance to the health and vigour of the national research and development effort, in both the public and private sectors, as an essential component of an innovative modern economy. We are reviewing the totality of our policies and expenditure plans as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review but we have already introduced the following measures to strengthen UK research and development—a Ministerial Foresight Group to co-ordinate Foresight activities across Whitehall; Foresight LINK Awards to support collaborative projects in Foresight priority areas; the Foresight Vehicle LINK programme to develop the technologies and components for the car of the future; and the President's Partnership Prize, to be awarded each year to the academic department which has made the most contribution to help sustain a healthy economy.