§ Baroness Perry of Southwarkasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 27 January (WA 183), whether they have acted on Sir John Fairclough's recommendation that "Government should reconsider its level of investment in research and development to support improvement in the construction industry". [HL1246]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The publication of Sir John's report was followed by a more major review of government policies which impact on innovation. The innovation report was published in December 2003 and examined investment by the Government in R&D and wider innovation across the whole UK economy.
One of the main findings of the report was that a step change was needed in the way government supported research and development to enable us to achieve real impact from our investment.
The DTI's subsequent business support review led to the development of a number of generic support products within the technology strategy, no longer linked to individual sectors such as construction, but focusing the funds we have available on supporting industry-led technological development in areas with clear market focus and delivering broader public benefits. This mirrored Sir John Fairclough's recommendation that funding programmes should he targeted at competitiveness issues and should withdraw from short-term knowledge-transfer and incremental improvement.
It is too early to say what level of support the construction industry will be able to obtain from the new strategy, and how this will compare to the previous levels of funding available to the sector.
A number of the competitions to date have had a clear relevance to the construction industry and the modem built environment is recognised by the Technology Strategy Board as a key area for improvement. The onus is however on the sector itself to take advantage of funding opportunities as they arise.