The Government has recently set out its legislative agenda and priorities for the coming years. Its focus is on driving economic growth along with four other ‘missions’:
Background and context
Secure the highest sustained growth in the G7, with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.
Make Britain a clean energy superpower to create jobs, cut bills and boost energy security with zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero.
Build an NHS fit for the future by reforming health and care services to speed up treatment, harnessing life sciences and technology to reduce preventable illness, and cutting health inequalities.
Make Britain’s streets safe by reforming the police and justice system, to prevent crime, tackle violence against women, and stop criminals getting away without punishment.
Break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage, for every child, by reforming the childcare and education systems, raising standards everywhere, and preparing young people for work and life.
DSIT’s Secretary of State Peter Kyle recently stated that the missions “set out a clear plan for tackling the country’s greatest challenges…a plan with R&D at its foundation”.
Yet, while a majority of the public think it is important for the Government to invest in R&D, they do not always clearly connect how R&D and innovation impact their everyday lives. For example, around a third of respondents to our June 2024 poll could think of very few or no ways in which R&D investment improves their lives. It is therefore necessary to develop a more compelling narrative for how and why R&D and innovation can support the missions and in turn benefit people’s lives and livelihoods.
“The success of our missions will be measured by the meaningful difference we make to everyday people’s lives.”
“Since I’ve got this job, people have constantly been asking me how it connects to people’s lives and is science really relevant to the daily lives and lived experiences of people.”
What CaSE will be doing
CaSE will convene our university, business and charity members and other stakeholders to highlight the importance of R&D and innovation to the Government’s priorities.
We will be conducting a series of roundtables across the UK to explore the following questions:
What is the role and contribution of R&D and innovation to the missions?
How do we make the case for R&D as an integral part of achieving the missions?
What’s needed from Government for R&D to be able to perform these roles?
The discussion will consider areas such as the role of skills, long-term R&D funding and devolution in supporting the missions, support for different types of R&D, as well as how R&D can be part of a successful industrial strategy.
We are also conducting a companion piece of public attitude research on the role of R&D in the Government’s missions to feed into our roundtable discussions and inform the development of our final policy report.
At the upcoming Spending Review the Government faces difficult decisions. It is now more important than ever to make the case for R&D and innovation as an integral part of tackling the challenges facing the UK.