41st Report - UK Research and Innovation

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 826 23 July 2025
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 30 items (11 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 30 of 30 classified)
Accepted 26
Acknowledged 1
Not Addressed 3
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-first report from Session 2024-26 · published 15 Oct 2025
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Clear

Recommendations & Conclusions

26 results
2 Conclusion Accepted
Set measurable outcomes and key targets for UKRI to appraise performance, especially private investment.
Conclusion
UKRI does not have a set of clearly defined objectives against which to judge its performance and hold it accountable. To articulate the value of public investment in R&I, it is important to monitor progress and performance against specific targets … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed and committed to publishing UKRI's strategic objectives and key results, underpinned by measurable targets, by Autumn 2025.
HM Treasury
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3 Conclusion Accepted
Provide government departments and public routine access to UKRI funding allocation data.
Conclusion
There is insufficient clarity about, and visibility of, where UKRI is investing its money. Knowing where UKRI invests its money is essential to good financial management, while also helping organisations in the private sector to guide their investment decisions. For … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed, acknowledging existing data access but committed to launching a new online portal by Summer 2026, improving data coverage, and publishing detailed UKRI allocations for the next Spending Review period before the next financial year. UKRI will report on progress in February 2026.
HM Treasury
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4 Conclusion Accepted
Provide Committee an update on UKRI's IT system modernisation progress and capability roadmap.
Conclusion
UKRI does not yet have the IT systems of a modern organisation. UKRI can classify its grants by theme, based on the award title and description and can produce one-off analyses of parts of its portfolio. For example, in 2024 … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed and committed to providing the Committee with an update in February 2026 on the implementation progress of its wider organisational change programme, including systems and functionality, and plans for further modernisation.
HM Treasury
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5 Conclusion Accepted
Develop government's approach to risk in research and innovation funding, defining risk for stakeholders.
Conclusion
It is unclear how UKRI manages risk across its portfolio and what the different parts of its portfolio are meant to achieve. UKRI has repeatedly referenced the importance of its portfolio approach to funding research and innovation. However, the committee … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed and committed to incorporating recommendations into UKRI's biennial risk appetite statement review by February 2026, developing guidance for risk appetite types, providing training, establishing a community of practice, and reviewing peer reviewer instructions.
HM Treasury
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6 Conclusion Accepted
Develop unified response to commercially scaling UK innovation, assessing strengths and optimising funding.
Conclusion
DSIT and UKRI face severe challenges in helping UK research and innovation to scale up commercially against a backdrop of intense international competition and a tight fiscal environment. The government considers research and innovation and the diffusion of new technologies … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed and committed to publishing an assessment by Spring 2026, using various data sources to identify areas for scaling innovation. While specific evaluation dates for the Proof-of-Concept fund are pending, early insights will inform allocation decisions, and DSIT will monitor the financial impact on universities using existing data.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Accepted
Committee took evidence on public funding of research and innovation from key bodies.
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on public funding of research and innovation.1 We also … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government stated that UKRI will increase support for growth-driving sectors, pivot programmes towards strategic priorities, and deliver a £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme. DSIT will also shortly publish new strategic objectives for UKRI, aligning with government priorities for R&D investment.
HM Treasury
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7 Recommendation Accepted
DSIT directs UKRI's research and innovation portfolio, allocating £6.0 billion in 2023-24 grant funding.
Recommendation
As the sponsoring department responsible for settings UKRI’s objectives, DSIT makes the main decisions on the shape of UKRI’s portfolio, including allocations to the research councils, using advice from UKRI.8 UKRI’s task is to advise on how best to turn … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that research and innovation are central to delivering each of the government’s five missions. DSIT will shortly publish new strategic objectives for UKRI, which set out the organisation’s role delivering government priorities.
HM Treasury
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8 Recommendation Accepted
Require UKRI to balance long-term and short-term research and innovation funding needs.
Recommendation
UKRI must also balance meeting the UK’s longer and shorter-term research and innovation needs when deciding where to allocate funding. It faces an inherent tension in allocating funding with government priorities in mind, while not stifling the innovation needed for … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation, stating UKRI will pivot programs towards industrial strategy priorities, including a £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, and DSIT will publish new strategic objectives for UKRI by Autumn 2025.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Accepted
UKRI demonstrates a wide-ranging role supporting government R&I across multiple departments.
Conclusion
DSIT told us that it asks UKRI to work closely with departments, such as the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ensure governmental R&I work is joined up.14 The NAO found … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation on UKRI's role in joined-up R&I, outlining specific actions including the £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme and new strategic objectives for UKRI to be published shortly, with a target implementation date of Autumn 2025.
HM Treasury
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Government lacks an overall consolidated picture of UKRI's expected policy support.
Recommendation
UKRI does not consolidate or rank the government policies and activities that it is expected to support, meaning that the government does not currently have an overall picture of what it is asking UKRI to do.17 We asked DSIT how … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation and will publish new strategic objectives for UKRI by Autumn 2025 to clarify UKRI's role in delivering government priorities. This will increase strategic clarity and transparency around R&D investment and its expected outcomes.
HM Treasury
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11 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI's strategic objectives lack specificity, measurability, and time-bound targets for effective monitoring.
Recommendation
To be able to articulate the value of public investment in R&I, it is vital that UKRI can monitor progress and performance against specific targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In 2018, when UKRI was formed, DSIT set 10 strategic … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, stating DSIT is developing strategic objectives for UKRI, underpinned by measurable key results, which will be published by Autumn 2025.
HM Treasury
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12 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI's extensive annual balanced scorecard metrics are not publicly accessible.
Recommendation
We asked UKRI how it knows the organisation has been successful or not in the absence of measurable objectives. UKRI outlined how it uses an ‘annual balanced scorecard’ of indicators to track the health of the R&I system.24 The scorecard … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, stating DSIT is developing strategic objectives for UKRI, underpinned by measurable key results, which will be published by Autumn 2025, implicitly addressing the transparency of performance metrics.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Accepted
DSIT suggests a manageable set of high-level KPIs for UKRI's R&I system.
Conclusion
We asked DSIT what it would consider the top three KPIs that it would encourage incoming UKRI leadership to track. DSIT recommended overall public and private spend on R&D, UK global rankings on the creation of ideas and, UK global … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the conclusion, stating DSIT is developing strategic objectives for UKRI, underpinned by measurable key results, which will be published by Autumn 2025 to provide clarity on what UKRI is investing in and its performance.
HM Treasury
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15 Recommendation Accepted
Government aims to improve clarity and justification for R&I funding allocation decisions.
Recommendation
The government recently set out its aim to more clearly define and justify the allocation of R&I funding between curiosity-driven basic research; targeted research aligned to government ambitions including economic growth; and investment to support innovative businesses including scale-up.31 DSIT … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation and will publish new strategic objectives for UKRI by Autumn 2025, aligning with its three R&D investment priorities to increase strategic clarity and transparency. They also highlight the £500m R&D Missions Accelerator Programme to target specific priorities.
HM Treasury
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16 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI's inadequate data systems hinder strategic management and oversight of R&I grant spending.
Recommendation
UKRI is working to address significant limitations in its data systems, which restrict its ability to efficiently manage its grant spending in a strategic way. To effectively manage R&I funding, it is vital to know what is being funded across … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating UKRI is developing a new online portal to replace Gateway to Research by Summer 2026, which will improve data accessibility and coverage for the UKRI portfolio and funds managed for other departments. UKRI will report on progress by February 2026.
HM Treasury
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17 Recommendation Accepted
DSIT acknowledges further work is needed to consolidate R&D spending data across government.
Recommendation
DSIT highlighted work that it has done in recent years to be able to look at the whole range of R&D spending across government but acknowledged that there is a lot more work to do to bring together all the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, confirming UKRI is developing a new online portal to replace Gateway to Research by Summer 2026, which aims to improve data accessibility and coverage across the UKRI portfolio and funds managed for other departments. UKRI will report on progress by February 2026.
HM Treasury
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18 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI's new data systems aim for cross-government R&D visibility, but lack a firm completion date.
Recommendation
We asked whether the new systems that UKRI is developing could be adopted by other departments to provide insight across all government investment in research and innovation.39 UKRI noted that, while it invests a substantial amount of taxpayers money, this … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating UKRI is developing a new online portal, replacing Gateway to Research by Summer 2026, which will improve data accessibility and coverage across the UKRI portfolio and funds managed for other departments. UKRI will report on progress by February 2026 and publish allocation breakdowns.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
UKRI's fragmented IT systems and poor data quality hinder grant classification and analysis.
Conclusion
UKRI is formed of seven research councils, Research England (which supports research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England), and Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.43 Since its establishment, UKRI has faced challenges unifying the separate data systems … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with the Committee's conclusion, detailing UKRI's ongoing organisational change programmes to enhance IT systems, data quality, and grant administration, including a new Databank and improved data collection, with an update to the Committee due by February 2026.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Accepted
UKRI's new IT systems implementation delayed, targeting 90% data availability by January 2026.
Conclusion
Despite developing modern IT systems being a priority for UKRI since 2019, the introduction of updated systems has been delayed.48 This delay, UKRI told us, was due to lengthy government procurement processes and “challenges of delivery in UKRI”.49 However, once … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledged the conclusion and affirmed UKRI's ongoing organisational change programmes to enhance IT systems, data quality, and grant administration, committing to provide an update on implementation progress by February 2026.
HM Treasury
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21 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI's outdated legacy systems pose an increased cyber security risk to government operations.
Recommendation
As we have reported before, one of the most serious risks to all parts of Government and industry is large-scale-assaults on their cyber security defences and ensuring their resilience against such attacks. Outdated legacy systems, such as those at UKRI, … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating UKRI is overhauling its systems through organisational change programmes to enhance information security and has invested in data capabilities including a data warehouse. UKRI will provide an update on modernisation progress to the Committee by February 2026.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Effective R&I funding demands comprehensive portfolio information to manage diverse risk levels.
Conclusion
To effectively manage R&I funding, it is crucial to have good information on what is being funded across a portfolio. Professor Boyle outlined the importance of needing high-risk, high reward research but also the need to support “winners” and low-risk, … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the implied recommendation, stating it will incorporate NAO recommendations into UKRI's 2025 risk appetite statement review by February 2026. UKRI will also develop risk appetite guidance, provide training, establish a community of practice, review peer reviewer instructions, and evaluate learning from risk-taking.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Accepted
UKRI strategically balances high-risk, high-reward R&I investments across its diverse funding portfolio.
Conclusion
UKRI’s total portfolio of funding comprises a wide range of investments, including R&I grants, strategic institutional funding to English Higher education providers and institutions, and UKRI says it balances risk across its portfolio by the type of funding mechanism.57 UKRI … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the implied recommendation, stating it will incorporate NAO recommendations into UKRI's 2025 risk appetite statement review by February 2026. UKRI will also develop risk appetite guidance, provide training, establish a community of practice, review peer reviewer instructions, and evaluate learning from risk-taking.
HM Treasury
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24 Recommendation Accepted
UKRI struggles to identify specific high-risk, high-reward projects in its current funding portfolio.
Recommendation
We asked UKRI if it could give us an example of a high-risk project it is supporting. UKRI gave us an example from past use of BBSRC funding where techniques were considered incredibly demanding at the time 55 Q 22 … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, committing to incorporating NAO recommendations into UKRI's 2025 risk appetite statement review by February 2026. UKRI will also develop guidance, provide training, establish a community of practice, review instructions for peer reviewers, and evaluate a new approach to learning from risk.
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion Accepted
UK excels in R&I spin-outs but struggles with commercial scaling amidst intense global competition.
Conclusion
The government considers R&I and the diffusion of new technologies to be vital to the UK’s future and to achieving its mission to grow the UK economy.65 Achieving this growth will require UK companies to successfully scale up their commercial … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with the Committee's conclusion on the importance of scaling innovation, reiterating its commitment through the Industrial Strategy, the new Proof-of-Concept fund, and an integrated approach to provide the right policy environment for firms.
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion Accepted
DSIT identifies UK research strengths lacking commercial scale-up through data analysis and sector plans.
Conclusion
We asked if there were specific fields in which the UK is strong scientifically but where we are less good as a country at scaling it up.70 In correspondence following the session, DSIT explained that the Government Office of Science … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with the conclusion, detailing how DSIT and UKRI draw on existing data sources (e.g., Science Power Index, Innovation Clusters Map) to identify areas for scaling innovation and leverage the Industrial Strategy's integrated approach.
HM Treasury
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28 Conclusion Accepted
UKRI and DSIT implementing strategies to improve R&I commercialisation and start-up scaling.
Conclusion
We asked what UKRI and DSIT are doing to address the systemic challenges to achieving economic growth by commercialising the results of R&I.74 DSIT told us that it is currently focusing on how public sector investors (including Innovate UK, the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with the Committee's conclusion, outlining ongoing efforts to support scaling innovation, including UKRI's new Proof-of-Concept fund, an integrated approach with various public finance institutions, and leveraging public procurement, with allocations to UKRI to be published by Spring 2026.
HM Treasury
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