Wales has not been included in a key strand of the UK Government’s levelling up strategy which will see investment of £100m in establishing three innovation accelerators.
The three pilots for innovation-based clusters will be in Glasgow, the Western Midlands and Greater Manchester - although the UK Government said if they prove successful more accelerators could be follow in other parts of the UK.
They are intended to boost economic growth by investing in R&D (research and development) strengths, attracting new private investment, boosting innovation difusion, as well as maximising the economic impact of R&D institutions.
The UK Government said: “These clusters of innovation will see local businesses and researchers in these areas backed by £100m of new government funding to turbo-charge local growth, learning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Greater Boston and Stanford-Silicon Valley models.”
However, the Welsh Government said it was disappointed that Wales hadn’t been included in the pilot.
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “This is yet another example of the UK Government holding Wales back. The historic underfunding of research and development in Wales is long-standing. We estimate £410m would be needed annually to bring Wales level with Government R&D spending in London and the South-east. The UK Government have done little to address this imbalance in their Levelling Up White Paper.”
On the potential for additional accelerators the White Paper says: “UKRI and other R&D funders will continue to work with places not selected for this pilot as part of the 2030 R&D mission to increase investment outside the Greater South East. BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) will consider rolling out the model to others following this three-year pilot if it proves successful.”
The levelling up strategy is also seeking to address the imbalance in R&D investment in the UK, with 54% taking place in London and the south-east of England.
By 2030, the aim is for domestic public investment in R&D outside of London and the south-east to have increased by at least 40%, and over the UK Government’s spending review period by at least one third. This additional government funding will seek to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.
In terms of public R&D funding, secured through bodies such as the various research councils, Wales captures investment well below its population base as a percentage of the UK as whole.
London, Oxford and Cambridge combined account for 46% of public and charitable R&D in the UK, but with only 21% of the population.
However, the UK Government’s levelling up strategy on R&D doesn’t mean Wales will get a 40% share of the increased funding outside of the south-east. It will be a competitive bid process with other parts of the UK. While Wales has a Russell Group university in Cardiff, if it is to increase its share of publicly funded R&D all its higher education institutions will need to raise the bar in terms of academic research capacity, collaboration with the private sector, as well as with other universities outside of Wales in joint bids.
The body that represents universities in Wales, Universities Wales, said: “Universities play a fundamental role in driving the Welsh economy and supporting communities. They transform lives, create opportunities and feed the growth of new businesses.
“The Levelling Up White Paper includes a great amount of detail, much of which will take time to work through.
“However, we must emphasise the urgency with which Welsh universities need clarity on the replacement of EU structural funds. The UK Government reaffirmed in October’s spending review their commitment to match the receipts of structural funds in Wales. It is difficult to identify in the white paper how this funding will be provided.
“We are also keen to understand the process through which the innovation acceleration pilot areas were identified. Welsh universities have diverse research and innovation strengths, have delivered groundbreaking knowledge exchange activity through multi-university collaborations and are embedded in communities that span economically prosperous areas through to the some of the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. It is disappointing that Wales has not been included in this pilot programme and we would urge a reconsideration.”
