Yesterday’s Spring Budget unveiled an ambitious package of announcements designed to boost the UK’s science and technology sectors, unleashing innovation to drive growth, create jobs, and improve lives.
Alongside tax cuts for workers, harnessing science and technology to benefit the public sector was at the heart of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, which will improve economic security and opportunity for everyone.
Secretary of State for Science and Technology Michelle Donelan said: “Technological and scientific innovation can drive immense public and economic benefits.
“That is why I am focused on delivering this government’s record-high investment to cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower.
“Whether channelling technological advances into the public sector or doubling down on our leadership in AI advances and safety, we are unleashing innovation to drive economic growth and prosperity for everyone.”
The Spring Budget will allocate new funding for life sciences
In a further boost for the UK’s world-class life sciences sector, charities, including Cancer Research UK, will receive £45m to help launch the next generation of medical research careers.
The move will assist in the fight against some of the biggest global health challenges, including diseases such as dementia, cancer, and epilepsy while creating innovations that will help grow the science and technology sectors.
The Spring Budget also backed science and tech businesses through investments in critical life science manufacturing projects worth £92m. These projects are set to increase health resilience while supporting innovation and job creation.
This is part of the wider government plan to keep building a stronger economy where hard work is rewarded, ambition and aspiration are celebrated, and young people get the skills they need to succeed in life.
Cementing the UK’s commitment to AI safety
To ensure the UK remains an international leader in AI safety and to support the transition to an AI-enabled economy to fuel growth, funding to the world-leading Turing Institute will be boosted to £100m as part of the Spring Budget.
This will help cement the Institute’s leadership in setting research agendas and supporting the adoption of AI by UK businesses and governments.
The funding is in addition to the £100m already invested in establishing the UK’s AI Safety Institute, the world’s first state-backed institute dedicated to AI Safety.
The Spring Budget also announced innovative new pilots to improve nationwide data access whilst placing data protection and security at the centre of the UK’s approach.
Two new Data Access Pilots in education and adult social care will help generate new AI services to support teachers alongside promoting better data access and supporting productivity in the social care sector.
Fostering science and technology in the space sector
To help foster a resilient UK space sector, the full £160m Connectivity Low Earth Orbit programme was launched to ensure British R&D is at the forefront of satellite communication innovation.
The programme is key to offering connectivity and high-speed broadband to remote and rural communities, helping to bridge the digital divide and level up across the UK.
The Spring Budget also announced that £10m has been made available for the SaxaVord Spaceport – the UK’s first licensed vertical spaceport.
Building on the growing spaceport capability across the country, the funding will help deliver on the National Space Strategy goal for the UK to become the first European country to launch a satellite into orbit.
