Spending Review 2025: Faster drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries to come from £86bn science and tech package
Research into faster drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries will form part of the £86bn science and technology funding due to be unveiled in the government's spending review next week.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will unveil how much taxpayer money each government department will get.
Each region in England will be handed up to £500m to spend on science and technology projects of their choice, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) says.
In Liverpool, the funding is being earmarked to speed up the development of new drug treatments, while in South Wales, it will fund longer-lasting microchips for smartphones and electric cars.
Overall by 2030, Ms Reeves's spending package will be worth more than £22.5bn a year, the government says.
"Britain is the home of science and technology," she said on Sunday. "Through the 'plan for change', we are investing in Britain's renewal to create jobs, protect our security against foreign threats and make working families better off."
Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle added: "Incredible and ambitious research goes on in every corner of our country, from Liverpool to Inverness, Swansea to Belfast, which is why empowering regions to harness local expertise and skills for all of our benefit is at the heart of this new funding - helping to deliver the economic growth at the centre of our plan for change."
3:54
Flat real-terms budget 'won't be enough'
Regional leaders such as North East Mayor Kim McGuiness and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker welcomed the funding promise.
But the announcement was met with caution by industry leaders.
John-Arne Rottingden, chief executive of Wellcome, the UK's biggest non-governmental research funder, said: "While it's positive under the financial circumstances, a flat real-terms science budget, along with continuing barriers such as high visa costs for talented scientists and the university funding crisis, won't be enough for the UK to make the advances it needs to secure its reputation for science in an increasingly competitive world."
He claimed the UK should be "aiming to lead the G7 in research intensity" to "bring about economic growth" and "advances in health, science, and technology that benefit us all".
Director of policy and public affairs at the Institute of Physics Tony McBride expressed similar concerns.
"To fully harness the transformational potential of research and innovation - wherever it takes place - we need a decade-long strategic plan for science," he said.
Mr McBride said a "plan for a skilled workforce... starting with teachers and addressing every educational stage" is key - something he hopes will feature in Ms Reeve's spending review.
Among the other announcements expected are a potential scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and a green light to a new nuclear power station in Suffolk - Sizewell C.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
23 minutes ago
- Scotsman
SNP ministers accused of secrecy over £2m Grangemouth carbon capture study
Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... SNP ministers have been accused of secrecy after refusing to publish a £2 million study into whether a pipeline that will connect Grangemouth with a key carbon capture project will fall flat. The 'alarming' move comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to confirm at her spending review this week whether the Acorn carbon capture project for St Fergus, near Peterhead, will finally receive the funding it needs to get off the ground. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Carbon capture technology is seen as being essential to Scotland and the UK reaching net zero | POOL/AFP via Getty Images The previous Conservative UK government only granted the Acorn project reserve status and ploughed funding into carbon capture and storage projects south of the Border instead. This comes as finance secretary Shona Robison asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves to award funding for the Acorn carbon capture project and to ensure Scotland receives a share of GB Energy funding that matches its contribution to UK clean energy goals, ahead of the UK spending review. She also called on the Chancellor to 'prioritise growth' and to fully fund the employer national insurance increase for Scotland's public services. Ms Robison urged the UK Government to abandon some of its 'damaging policies' such as cuts to welfare support for disabled people, to scrap the two-child benefit cap and to reinstate a universal winter fuel payment, ahead of the review on 11 June. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said the Scottish Government had not yet been provided with 'clarity' on spending priorities. The delays to the project has been partly blamed for SNP ministers rolling back climate targets, with the Acorn plans initially hoped to be up and running before 2030. But now, the Scottish Government has refused to release the results of a feasibility study into the pipeline, despite confirming the document was completed in March. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad SNP ministers handed over £2m to National Gas last year to assess whether it was possible to turn an old 174-mile gas pipeline that runs from Grangemouth in the Central Belt to St Fergus, Aberdeenshire into 'Europe's largest carbon capture pipeline'. Officials have refused to release details of what the study shows, despite campaigners requesting it under Freedom of Information law. Acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin during a visit to drone manufacturer Flowcopter in Loanhead, to mark the publication of the Scottish Government's Green Industrial Strategy | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire Concerns have been raised about carbon capture technology, which campaigners warn simply allows oil and gas companies to continue burning fossil fuels. Under the technology, harmful carbon emissions are prevented from being released into the atmosphere and instead trapped and injected into the seabed. Fears have been raised about leakage, with the technology not yet tested at commercial scale. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During a trip to St Fergus in 2023, then prime minister Rishi Sunak also raised concerns about the technology, warning that it would be a boost 'if we can get it to work'. Now, campaigners have warned that any further public funds for the Acorn project would benefit major oil companies, including Shell, which have made £90 billion profits in recent years and Harbour Energy who recently laid off 250 staff despite paying out almost £1bn to shareholders in the past three years. The UK government has already pledged £22bn to the carbon capture industry, a move which the Public Accounts Committee branded a 'high risk gamble' that could push up household energy bills. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad First Minister John Swinney has vowed to increase the public handout from the Scottish Government for the Acorn project beyond £80m. But that is contingent on the UK government first backing the project - amid doubts the funding could be axed in the spending review amid a perilous economic backdrop. Friends of the Earth Scotland's climate campaigner Alex Lee said: 'The public are again being forced to pay for the oil industry's greenwashing carbon capture plans, and it is deeply alarming that we don't even get to see what our money has unearthed. 'Plans to run a 280km high pressure carbon pipeline through towns and villages are fraught with danger and uncertainty because this has never been done before in Scotland. Have the people who live along the route of this pipeline proposal been informed of the risks and consulted on these proposals? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It is a farce that ministers have been talking up carbon capture for 20 years and only now are they checking whether it would even be feasible to do this. 'When working climate solutions are crying out for funding, there should be no public investment in dodgy scams like carbon capture.' Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband during a meeting of the National Wealth Fund Taskforce in 11 Downing Street. PIC: Justin Tallis/PA Wire Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: 'The Greens have always been sceptical about putting too much reliance on untested carbon capture technology, and we are firmly opposed to using it as an excuse for more fossil fuel extraction or burning. 'Even its advocates don't think it will make any impact on our emissions in the near future, so the priority has to be the action we know how to take right now - cutting road and air traffic levels, insulating homes and shifting to clean heating, and supporting communities to change land use. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Climate action isn't rocket science and we don't need to wait for new technologies to get off the drawing board - we just need to do what we know works.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government provided National Gas with a £2m grant to support a study to explore the technical feasibility and viability of repurposing an existing gas pipeline for the transportation of carbon dioxide. 'The conclusions of the study were requested under environmental information regulations. However, for reasons of commercial confidentiality these can't be released. 'The Scottish Government fully supports the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS), and we have been advised by the Climate Change Committee that they 'cannot see a route to net zero that does not include CCS'.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A UK government spokesperson said: 'We are delivering first of a kind carbon capture projects in the UK, supporting thousands of jobs across the country, reigniting industrial heartlands and tackling the climate crisis.
BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
Stoke pottery firm's plea to help industry 'on its knees'
Ahead of the government spending review on Wednesday, pottery bosses are not holding out hope for it to contain support with spiralling energy or employment costs. "Our industry is on its knees," said fifth generation ceramicist Emily Johnson, from one of the oldest traditional Stoke-on-Trent manufacturing families - the Johnson brothers. "There is a lot of hope and opportunity, however, we need help. If our industry fails, where do people work?"The Department for Business and Trade said: "Ministers continue to engage closely with the ceramics sector to understand the challenges and provide support, ensuring the industry is globally competitive as part of our Plan for Change." In 2011, Ms Johnson established 1882 Ltd, one of the youngest ceramics firms in Staffordshire. She said she did not believe ministers would step in: Although the pottery industry has been in decline for decades, 2025 has seen a quick succession of three Stoke-on-Trent manufacturers going bump, citing energy bills as the events included:The February collapse of historic firm Royal Stafford along with the loss of 70 jobs, followed by Heraldic Pottery going into liquidation, and other firms working on reduced hours. Moorcroft's trading end in April. The company stated its energy costs had gone up almost £250,000 over the past two March, in between the events, industry bosses and unions pitched a rescue plan to ministers in "make or break" meetings, including Labour Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell who said help could not come fast Ms Johnson said she believed that while "our local MPs are doing all they can", they were just "getting lip service" from ministerial colleagues."We don't need lip service," she said, "we need help." Without it, she added, the future of factories, and the industry itself, were in jeopardy. The 1882 Ltd firm has a factory within the Wedgwood site in Barlaston, employs 23 potters, and operates ten electric kilns for firing products, as opposed to the traditional gas operator Nathan Platt said that insulating kilns with bricks made them more efficient, however they still used a lot of energy. "The gas kilns, it's a lot of money. Electric, it's a lot of money. But I'd say electric kilns are smaller, easier to fill, easier to empty quicker," he said. With an ageing workforce within the industry, there are fears those with specialised skills will literally die out. Andrew Henshall, a potter for 50 years, and one of only a handful of ceramic modellers left, said he was positive there remained a demand for handmade despite a changing market, he likes an approach that prioritises the potential of the craft."It's not who can make the cheapest mug or who can make the cheapest teapot now," he said. "It's often guided by designers who say they want to create a new range, or create something beautiful." Rob Flello, chief executive of Ceramics UK, said he believed the government was listening, but whether the message cut through to the treasury remained to be seen."All we're asking really is that some of the burdens that are placed on our industry are lifted, so those taxes, those levies - get those lifted off."
BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
Royal Armouries: UK's oldest museum sets out plan after £11m deal
After the Royal Armouries in Leeds secured an £11.69m government loan to purchase the land it stands on, director Nat Edwards spoke to the BBC about what the deal will mean for the museum."We pride ourselves on being the world's oldest museum," Mr Edwards said."We've been around since at least the early 14th Century, but for most of our history it was sitting in the Tower of London"This is the first time in 702 years that we've owned our own home."The Royal Armouries moved to Leeds from London in the 1990s as the anchor project in a scheme to regenerate what he said was then a "pretty grim, post-industrial" part of the and free to visit the museum features items from around the world, ranging from Henry VIII's armour to James Bond's Walther Edwards, director general and master of the Armouries, said as well as securing a home for the vast array of historical exhibits the deal would also provide a springboard for the museum's said a major part of their future plans for the site included the development of the tiltyard site, which is used for jousting matches and displays, into a multipurpose riverside arts, events and conference space."[We want] to really develop that site into something that can do not just the jousting, but lots of other things too," he museum is also planning a major refresh of its exhibition galleries, to bring in the latest in terms of digital technology. The Royal Armouries principal function is to maintain the national collection of arms and Edwards said that meant "making it accessible to everybody, for free and forever".He said the museum had been good at building commercial relationships on the land it currently occupies and has created a major conference and meetings special exhibitions and its jousting displays, he said these helped to generate income to support its work. In terms of the wider site the museum has acquired around Leeds Dock, Mr Edwards said they had been approached about "straightforward housing developments"."We are keen to support wider housing development in the south side of Leeds, but we think of the area around the Armouries as such an important public space we are keen to develop it very much with the public in mind."He said that would include an extended Armouries Square and a multi-purpose building on the tiltyard site with a flexible events are also looking at creating immersive spaces to help improve the educational experiences they offer to help students learn about life during conflicts."Imagine doing that in a space where you can recreate, using immersive technology, a battlefield experience and how much that could bring history to life," he said."That goes right through to the kind of work we are doing with the Ministry of Defence to help new recruits into the army better understand the realities of war." The Royal Armouries also works with the Border Force, the police and various intelligence services, some of which involves training AI systems to detect weapons in suitcase and working with the police to help mitigate the effects of 3D printed Edwards said the key to the museum's continuing success was developing these partnerships and creating the spaces and tools to collaborate on telling the story of "hundreds of years of human conflict.""[It is] a really important story that touches every life and we know we can't tell that story on our own."He said in the collection, as an example, were items which detail British colonial history in East Africa which, he said, can be displayed and tell a very interesting and educational story."But right now in the city we have people who have come from Sudan and have direct, lived experience of religious conflict and civil war and have a completely different perspective of those items."Mr Edwards said if you put those together you can tell a story which is "10 times more informative, ten times more powerful and has ten times the chance of perhaps helping people avoid conflict in the future."That's really what we are about." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
