Cutting investment in research and development (R&D) to help plug the 海角视频 Government鈥檚 fiscal black hole would be counterproductive and damage future waves of innovation, says Vice Chancellor of Swansea University Paul Boyle.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce in his autumn statement tomorrow a series of tax cuts, fiscal drag tax band threshold freezes - with expectation that he will reduce the rate at which people pay the 45p top rate from 拢150,000 to 拢125,000 - and in real terms cuts to public expenditure, to fill a 拢55bn deficit.
However, Prof Boyle has urged the chancellor not to cut funding - via the various research councils and innovation bodies like Innovate 海角视频 - on early stage R&D. He said that while public sector investment in R&D in the 海角视频 was lower than in many major economies, 海角视频 researchers still out performed competitors - but without an improved funding environment this couldn鈥檛 be sustained.
Writing in the Financial Times, Prof Boyle said: 鈥淭here are difficult decisions ahead on tax and spending. But some cuts, such as in research and development, would prove a tragically misguided false economy - and show that the 海角视频 had failed to learn from mistakes that have hampered us in the past. 鈥淚nnovation is a vital tool for improving our productivity. The gains come from new ideas applied in a commercial context, but generating the ideas themselves requires time, money and a great deal of work. By cutting the budget for foundational research, we would be shutting the door on future innovation - and with it the new businesses that fuel growth and eventually pay for public services.鈥
Amongst ground breaking innovation coming out of 海角视频 universities, he cited his own university鈥檚 involvement in the SPECIFIC project. Prof Boyle said: 鈥淩esearchers (Swansea) are creating buildings that store and release energy. They鈥檙e developing technologies such as printable solar cells and material that stores summer heat for a winter use. They have created seven spinout companies and work with hundreds of businesses and partners.鈥
He said the project, as well as many others, have relied on EU funding via that the European Regional Development Fund. He added that the 海角视频 Government鈥檚 replacement for EU structuring funding, the Shared Prosperity Fund, wouldn鈥檛 make up the shortfall.
Prof Boyle said that for every 拢1 spend on R&D in the 海角视频, it stimulated between 拢1.96p and 拢2.34p of private investment. And he called on the 海角视频 Government to stick to a target of R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP, which he said would still be below competitor economies such as Germany which invests 3.1%, the US 3.4%, South Korea 4.8% and Israel 5.4%.
He added: 鈥淲e need to get serious. To think that they will (researchers) go doing so indefinitely without proper support would be grossly complacent. The Conservatives showed the right ambition with last year鈥檚 pledge to invest 拢20bn annually in R&D by 2024/25. Despite all the immediate pressures Hunt faces this week, he should hold to it.鈥
