How did the Government do at the Spending Review?
01 Nov 2021
In the run-up to the Comprehensive Spending Review, CaSE published its five-point roadmap, which formed the centrepiece of our asks from the review. The roadmap sets out the best route towards cementing the UK’s role as a ‘science superpower’, as well as warning of the wrong turns to avoid at each step of the journey.
With the Spending Review announced by the Chancellor last week, CaSE has taken the opportunity to rate the review against each of the five points. This follows on from our analysis on what the review means for science and engineering.
The Spending Review means that public investment in R&D is set to rise substantially to £20bn by 2024/25, a 34% increase from 2021/22. However, this settlement falls short of the UK Government’s own ambitions of reaching £22bn by 2024/25, with this target now being pushed back to 2026/27 and into the next Parliament.





Read our five-point roadmap to making the UK a 'science superpower'
Read moreRelated resources
CaSE analysis of the Autumn Budget delivered by the Chancellor on 26 November 2025.
Analysis of the newly announced framework for public R&D investment, presented in speeches by Liz Kendall and Prof Sir Ian Chapman.
DSIT has published its plans for R&D budget allocations for the financial years 2026/2027 to 2029/2030. We take a look at what the plans might mean for UK R&D funding in the coming years.
In this submission, we set out why supporting UK R&D is an essential way to generate growth in the economy, and improve lives and livelihoods across the UK.