March 6, 2024

expert reaction to the Spring Budget

Scientists react to the Chancellors Spring Budget announcement. 

Stephanie Baxter, Head of Policy at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said:

“The Institution of Engineering and Technology welcomes today’s Spring Budget announcements on apprenticeships, nuclear and R&D investment.

“Further developing the UK’s nuclear capacity, particularly in small modular reactor development will be critical to support the move towards net-zero. To maximise the potential of investment in nuclear and R&D, it must be underpinned by a strong skills pipeline. That is why we welcome the further investment for apprenticeships in key growth sectors, including nuclear technicians and electrical power network engineers.

“However, whilst increasing the number of apprentices will be crucial to fixing the skills pipeline in the long-term, there remain significant gaps in the existing workforce. That is why we need to upskill and reskill current workers in the adoption of new and emerging technologies like AI and digital twins. We were therefore pleased to see the government’s upskilling fund pilot to help SMEs develop AI skills, and look forward to seeing further plans set out in the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. Only by remaining agile will we plug skill gaps now and in the future.”

Prof Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:

“The government’s announced investment to accelerate late-stage R&D and support engineering and manufacturing projects across life sciences, automotive and aerospace sectors is welcome, as many of these technologies are pivotal for delivering healthcare and achieving the UK’s net zero and growth ambitions. The Green Future Fellowships delivered by the Academy will also be vital for achieving these ambitions and driving economic growth. The government’s ongoing investment in aerospace through the Aerospace Growth Partnership, the Aerospace Technology Initiative and Advanced Propulsion Centre has been successful for its long-term commitment beyond budget and political cycles, an approach that needs to be replicated across the research and innovation sectors.

“To maintain the UK’s place as a leading tech ecosystem, it’s important that the government move swiftly to implement the Mansion House reforms to support innovative companies to access the capital they need to scaleup domestically and we encourage the government to explore other sources of investment held in UK financial institutions.

“Continued investment in the UK’s AI sector, including through the Alan Turing Institute, is vital to support the development of emerging technologies and engineering that can help to address complex societal challenges. However, it’s crucial that this continued investment is delivered in a way that unlocks opportunities for innovation, skills development and economic success in all nations and regions across the UK, to ensure that advancements in AI engineering contribute to a more inclusive economy.”

Commenting on the budget generally:

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the BioIndustry Association (BIA), said:

“Three highlights from the Budget for UK life sciences: first, the new expert advisory panel for the HMRC is a smart way to maximise the efficiency of R&D tax relief support for life science innovators. Secondly, Alan Marchington’s ICG winning the LIFTs scheme shows real movement to unlock pension funds for life sciences, and, thirdly, AstraZeneca’s investment in next generation manufacturing in Speke and Cambridge shows the strength of our ecosystem.

“I’m delighted that the UK Government continues to recognise start-ups and scale-ups are forging the innovative products and technologies underpinning the UK’s economic future and improving all of our lives in the process. Today’s Spring Budget delivers welcome progress on increasing private investment into these companies and improving the tax regime to support innovation.

“It is fantastic to see the deep life science investment expertise of Allan Marchington and his team at Intermediate Capital Group partnered with the largest pensions provider in the UK, Phoenix Group, for the first time. This partnership, facilitated by the Chancellor and British Business Bank, marks a new era for the UK life sciences financing ecosystem. The investment of capital from pension funds into innovative British companies will help deliver the real-terms financial returns savers so desperately need while delivering the new medicines and technologies society so desperately needs. This is a win-win situation for everybody. 

“Successive policy changes to the R&D tax regime over the past several years have created uncertainty and additional red-tape for SMEs, putting at risk the UK’s reputation as a location for innovative businesses. We are therefore looking forward to a period of stability and bedding-in for the new rules legislated for in the Finance Bill. However, with British companies being at the cutting-edge of global R&D, HMRC will need help to ensure the R&D tax relief claims process is streamlined and robust, making it straightforward and quick for genuine innovative companies and catching fraudulent ones. The new HMRC-industry panel is a smart way to deliver industry expertise and feedback into the HMRC’s vital work to make the UK business environment as innovation-friendly as possible.”

Dr Joe Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), said:

“In today’s Budget, the Chancellor rightly acknowledged that research, innovation and skills are central to leading the UK into a more optimistic, prosperous age. However, there were no bold, new announcements to truly shift the dial and drive growth through a more innovative, highly skilled economy. Previous commitments to grow public research funding and release more private sector investment are critical, but further intervention is needed to put university funding on a more sustainable footing. Only then will we build, grow and attract further private investment into the UK.”

“Last week revealed that business research and development (R&D) investment in the UK dropped by 0.4% in real terms between 2021 and 2022. It is therefore clear that existing measures alone do not go far enough to realise the UK’s Science Superpower ambitions and for the nation to reap the rewards of more jobs, more innovative and productive industries, as well as greater prosperity, security and sustainability. The UK’s Science Superpower ambition is not an obscure or remote vision but represents the UK’s fundamental plan for growth intended to deliver a tangible, positive impact on peoples’ lives, and prepare for a radically different future in the fourth industrial revolution.”

“To unlock economic growth, it is vital that the Government sets an ambitious target and plan to raise private R&D investment. The Government must not forget their commitment to making the UK a Science Superpower. We need action now if we are to continue to build to secure a central role in the age of innovation.”

Dr Daniel Rathbone, Interim Executive Director, Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), said:

“It is very welcome that the Government continues to recognise that “Science and innovation are powerful drivers of economic growth”. There is clear and emphatic support from the Chancellor for UK R&D, with a positive focus on business R&D investment.  It is worth noting that many of the commitments made today had already been made in last year’s Autumn Statement and we have not yet had time to see how these will pan out.”

Tom Grinyer, CEO, Institute of Physics (IOP), said:

“It’s clear from today’s budget that the Chancellor has limited room for manoeuvre but it’s also crucial we don’t lose sight of the importance of putting the right resources into UK research and development (R&D), education and our scientific future.

“The UK has a stark choice of futures. One route sees our economy and society transformed by a new, research driven, industrial revolution based on green energy and advances in quantum, semiconductors, fusion and AI. The second choice leaves us on the sidelines of this technological transformation, with our economy contracting, our role in the world diminished.

“That is why the Institute of Physics is calling for real investment in R&D to at least match the levels of the highest spending industrial nations and for a concerted effort to solve the skills crisis in the scientific and technical sectors.”

Commenting on funding announcement for AI and specifically the Alan Turing Institute:

Prof Dame Wendy Hall, Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton, said:

“This is excellent news. It is important that the UK government continues to fund AI across the board to help maintain our leadership in this world. It is particularly encouraging that this budget is announcing funding for SME upskilling and ongoing funding for the Turing Institute. It is also good to hear more about the pioneering work being done by the AI Safety Institute.”

Prof Nello Cristianini, Professor of AI, University of Bath, said:

“It is important to invest in AI in a moment when the technology is moving so fast, both because there is a need to understand it better, and because we need to discover new ways to put it to good use. This is also a moment when we do not yet have a clear theoretical understanding of the behaviour of large language models, so I hope that part of the budget is dedicated to that purely scientific question. As we need to diversify the number of research groups engaging with the technical side of AI, it would also be good if the investment was not concentrated solely on one institution. Overall this is good news.”.

Commenting on the announcement of AI and IT investment in the NHS and others public services like policing:

Rashik Parmar MBE, Chief Executive of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT said:

“This level of investment in technology across the NHS and the police is vital to improve the quality and speed of the medical service and criminal investigation.

“But funding for AI must include investment in digital professionals – people – who will work with it and lead it at all levels. They need not just high degrees of competence, but an understanding of ethical principles, which are key when using automated technology that affects our lives, like processing patient data, or responding to emergency enquires.

“We need the public to trust that the UK’s journey to become the next Silicon Valley will make their lives better, knowing it is delivered by accountable experts who meet independent standards.”

Commenting on the announcement of a vaping tax:

Professor Maggie Rae, President, and Dr Nicola Stingelin-Giles, council member, of the Epidemiology & Public Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine, said:

“Smoking tobacco is the biggest cause of entirely preventable illness and death in the UK. Helping people stop smoking is one of the best things we can do for people’s health and, therefore, is a public health priority. 

“Vapes, or e-cigarettes, that contain nicotine can be effective tools to aid this. While vaping is not risk-free, and more research is needed to fully understand the health effects, the harms are known to be substantially less than those of smoking tobacco. 

“The rise in uptake of vaping amongst non-smokers – and particularly children and young people – is an area of huge concern and we welcome efforts to address this. These include the proposed ban on disposable vapes, and restrictions on flavours and packaging, aimed directly at making vaping less attractive for younger people. 

“But it’s imperative we ensure medicinal use of vapes to aid people to stop smoking continues to be encouraged, as smoking cessation remains the matter of greater importance.

“Introducing a tax which makes vaping more expensive must be carefully considered to ensure the positives are not outweighed by any resulting harmful effects on health, especially where there is a risk of widening inequity in our society. It’s important we focus smoking cessation efforts on helping those people in the most at-risk groups who stand to lose the most.

“This is a complex area with no easy decisions, but the primary goal has to be delivering the greatest health benefits for the public. We welcome the debate on the best means of doing this.”

Commenting on the announcement of additional funding for medical charities:

Dr Ian Walker, Executive Director of Policy, Information and Communications at Cancer Research UK, said:

“We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of an additional £3 million in the Budget to support promising early career cancer researchers. This funding from the Medical Research Charities Early Career Researchers Support Fund is a welcome boost at a time when inflation and the cost of living is squeezing research.

“We look forward to working with government to put cancer research funding on a long-term sustainable footing and to tackle the more than £1 billion gap in cancer research funding expected over the next decade.”

Nicola Perrin MBE, Chief Executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities said:

“We’re thrilled that government has announced £45 million to support charity-funded early career researchers. This recognises the vital role that charities play in nurturing research careers and supporting the people who will unlock new ways to save and improve lives. The funding will make a huge difference to AMRC members as they continue to recover post-pandemic.”

Declared interests

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