§ Mr. CotterTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial assessment she has made of the outcome of the Foresight Programme. [53084]
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§ Mr. BattleThe Foresight Programme develops visions of the future to guide today's decision-makers and stimulate innovation. It aims to increase wealth creation and enhance quality of life but, given the nature of its objectives, it will inevitably be some time before its ultimate impacts can objectively be assessed.
In the meantime, it is clear that Foresight is creating new networks of people from business, academe, and Government working together for mutual advantage. Well over £350 million has also been committed since 1995 to public and private sector collaborative research programmes and projects reflecting Foresight priorities. These include:
Nineteen new LINK programmes worth some £160 million which have been launched in Foresight priority areas.The Foresight Challenge Competition which brought together £30 million of public funds with over £60 million from the private sector in a range of projects, some involving businesses with no history of collaboration with the science base andThe Foresight LINK Awards which have stimulated an exciting range of proposals for further projects. £10 million of public funds will be matched by at least the same amount from the public sector.