EVENTS

Should R&D policies and budgets be devolved to English Regions?

• October 23, 2024 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• The Spine Building, Liverpool, and Online

There is clear evidence of a link between R&D and economic output in different geographical areas, and increasingly, English regions are developing plans for economic development based on their own circumstances and the industries and skills in their regions.

Around two thirds of R&D is funded by industry and one third from the public purse, and the private investment often follows the public. Public investment in R&D is primarily funded at a UK wide level, with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) being the primary funding agency. UKRI have traditionally had a mission to fund the best research, regardless of location, and that focus has contributed to an incredibly strong UK research sector which feeds into economic output – but with significant differences across different regions.

At this meeting, we explored some of these issues.

Professor Richard Jones from the University of Manchester prepared a short briefing note for this event which can be downloaded from this page.  

We are delighted to have organised this event in collaboration with the University of Liverpool.

In addition to the main meeting, we also organised an invitation-only roundtable on the same date, to explore the issues in depth. A summary of that discussion can be found here.