Responding to yesterday’s budget, Dr Annette Bramley, director of the N8 Research Partnership, said
“It is a cause for celebration that the government has identified research and innovation as a key pillar of its plan to rebuild the British economy. Protecting the R&D budget, providing full funding for our Horizon Europe association and creating a multi-year R&D missions programme will allow universities to further act as engines of growth.
“It was also pleasing to see the continuation of Investment Zones and extension of the Innovation Accelerators. N8 universities will be pivotal to the successful delivery of many of these projects, and they can now move forward, growing the UK’s reputation as a place where academia and industry can work in partnership to deliver world-leading science and prosperous economies.
“While the budget served as vote of confidence in universities’ ability to create high value jobs, attract investment and build stronger communities, given the wider fiscal landscape it was inevitable the Chancellor would make decisions that would be more challenging for our sector.
“As major employers, universities will be hit hard by the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions at a time when many are already feeling the strain. The N8 looks forward to continuing to work with the government ahead of next year’s spending review to ensure its mission-led approach succeeds, with a thriving and robust higher education sector at the heart of the UK’s growth strategy.”
To find out more about how the N8 is supporting the government’s mission led approach, please visit our Regional Economic Growth prospectus.
This topic was also discussed in detail at N8’s panel event at the Labour Party Conference.