“The UK’s innovation system has all the necessary components to be successful, but it lacks the necessary scale and collaboration to fully realise economic benefits for the UK,” said committee chair Narendra Patel. It further recommended that Innovate UK be more flexible in how much public sector bodies receive from collaborative R&D funds, which are currently capped at 30% and must be shared between all bodies involved. To deal with the issue, the committee recommends that the government, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and Innovate UK create a clear plan for how public sector resources and private investment can be made to match the Roadmap’s scale of ambition, and that UKRI allows catapults to bid for Research Council funds where there are clear advantages in terms of both research and innovation. Finally, lack of access to Research Council funding puts catapults at a disadvantage compared to universities.” Leveraged funding requirements place too much risk on industry in transformative R&D projects. “First, the cap on collaborative R&D funding for public sector bodies inhibits collaboration between catapults and universities. Rules governing funding for innovation create barriers to collaboration between for Catapults and universities, and can deter industrial partners,” it said. “The funding available for innovation in the UK does not appear to be commensurate with the government’s ambitions, as set out in the R&D Roadmap. It also noted while catapults are currently funded via a “thirds model” – whereby the government (through Innovate UK), industry partners and collaborative R&D funds (which are bid for by consortia involving the catapults) each provide a third of the money – caps placed on the amount of collaborative funding they receive, as well as their inability to apply for Research Councils’ funding, limit the amount of investment the actually available to them.
The report claimed that catapults were well-placed to contribute to the government’s “levelling-up” agenda and its R&D strategy, and that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is currently undertaking a review of how catapults can strengthen R&D capacity and improve productivity. which – in tandem with a lack of effective funding – means it is “unlikely” the government will attract enough private investment to reach its target of 2.4% of GDP spending on R&D by 2027.
Known as “catapults”, these not-for-profit, independent technology and innovation centres are designed to connect businesses with the UK’s research and academic communities with the aim of turning innovative ideas into commercial products.Īccording to a report published 5 February 2021 by the subcommittee, the government’s current approach “lacks a detailed plan for delivering its R&D ambitions”.
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