U.K., Oct. 21 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:
Government should be bolder in taking stakes in innovative businesses it has backed with grants. In a new report on UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the PAC urges government to do much more to recover taxpayers’ money when a successful company exploits research for which UKRI has paid.
Read the report
According to the government, UK universities proportionally generate more spinout companies and patents than in the US - but the way this intellectual property (IP) is then monetised is patchy. The report lays out the PAC’s concerns that UKRI is not doing enough to make sure the taxpayer fully reaps the rewards of public investment in cutting-edge research, which sees the British Business Bank acting as a cornerstone investor alongside pension funds. UKRI takes a more liberal approach to controls on IP than other parts of the public sector, and told the PAC that it is seeking to strike a balance with the design of its IP controls so as not to inhibit companies’ growth.
The PAC is not convinced UKRI’s approach is necessarily justified, and views its policy on IP as far too cautious, and considers that UKRI could take more equity stakes in companies where it is providing funding. The report further warns in this area that the longer UKRI and the government spend thinking, reviewing and considering what they might do, rather than actively intervening on behalf of the taxpayer, the more opportunities will be missed.
The report also highlights a continuing north-south divide for researchers due to the dispersed and inefficient nature of research infrastructure. The ‘Greater South East’ (that is, London, the South East and East of England) receives half of all UKRI funding. This makes the issue of the current tax arrangements for research infrastructure, which discourages researchers from using facilities outside their own institution, more acute for those outside the Greater South East.
While a recently-improved 20% of UKRI’s spending now takes place in the North (up from 12% five years before), UKRI setting specific targets around regional growth could help focus attention on this issue, and the report recommends UKRI ensure that the overall outcomes of its funding decisions benefit researchers across the whole of the country. The Committee further notes the fact that the current budget allocated by UKRI to the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which supports UK research facilities, could require it to cut its spending on expensive collaborative projects with other nations.
UKRI provided a number of examples to the PAC’s inquiry on how it is supporting businesses, and in particular AI companies. For example, it provides free time on publicly-funded supercomputers to startups carrying out strategically-significant AI R&D. Disappointingly, however, the PAC’s inquiry finds British companies still find it much harder than their US counterparts to obtain the investment they need to grow while remaining based in the UK. The report recommends the government look closely at its various support mechanisms for businesses, beyond just grant funding, and report annually on new metrics for them.
Chair comment
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “It may strike followers of this Committee’s work that our call for government to take a less cautious approach to taking a direct stake in British innovation is an unusual one. But we are a body dedicated to value for taxpayers’ money, not hoarding it. The nations currently leading the global tech race did not achieve their positions by avoiding more entrepreneurial policies. This is a simple case for the government of nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“Our report also identifies a continuing and unacceptable regional divide in researchers’ experiences outside of London and the South East. UKRI’s spending in the North seems to be going in the right direction, but without a dedicated focus on rebalancing the scales, there is every possibility of slipping back to the previous status quo. Further, if the UK doesn’t protect its ownership of innovative ideas, this intellectual property is then exploited by countries around the world who are then better able to compete with us. Only a healthy and rich ecosystem of research across the country, supplied through our world-beating higher education system, can provide the fertile ground for innovative companies to grow and thrive in the UK, and repay the taxpayer for their support in the process.”
Further information
About Parliament: Select committees
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