Chancellor supports R&D in autumn budget but full details yet to emerge

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the new government’s first autumn budget on 30 October.

The IOP had made a submission to the Treasury ahead of the budget which emphasised the potential for physics to kickstart economic growth, make the UK a clean energy superpower, and break down barriers to opportunity. Read more about our submission and asks.

As suggestions emerged of potential cuts to the research and development (R&D) budget, the IOP worked in partnership with the science sector to ensure the importance of research and innovation was understood by the government. This included adding our support to a letter to the Chancellor, led by the Campaign for Science and Engineering and the Russell Group, urging continued investment in R&D, which was published in The Times.

On budget day, the Chancellor expressed support for R&D and innovation. She outlined the ambition for the budget to “drive innovation by protecting funding for R&D and harnessing the full potential of the science base”. There was clear recognition that, if supported, R&D will be vital to driving economic growth.

The IOP cautiously welcomed this announcement. Our understanding is that a significant cut to R&D investment will not materialise because of an increase in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) budget, which will cover the costs of associating to Horizon Europe.

However, we will not know the full picture until we see full DSIT budget allocations in the next couple of months, so we will be carefully monitoring the situation.