CaSE response to Jonathan Reynolds becoming Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

“We welcome Jonathan Reynolds as Secretary of State and look forward to working with him in his new role.

“In a new department bringing together the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology it is critical that Jonathan Reynolds champions the whole R&D system, from basic research through to scale-up businesses.

“The UK and the R&D sector have faced many political changes over recent years. For UK R&D to thrive, commitment to stable funding and investment in R&D must remain unchanged and it is essential decisions are taken with a long-term view.

“R&D  are critical drivers of economic growth, so bringing science and business policy together could create opportunities for better alignment between discovery research, commercialisation and industrial strategy. But curiosity-led and discovery research must continue to be protected within a larger department.

“I look forward to the Government providing clarity on responsibility for UKRI, research funding and long-term R&D strategy as soon as possible to avoid uncertainty for universities, institutes and businesses.”