Government outlines ten-year R&D funding to transform UK economy

The government has set out new ten-year funding for research and development (R&D) to help boost efficiency, attract greater private investment and grow the UK economy.

The plan aims to promote long-term funding for infrastructure and innovative technologies such as quantum computing by giving greater certainty to leading research organisations who are tackling critical barriers to UK growth.

The Department for Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT) noted that the average £1 invested in public R&D leverages £2 in private investment and generates £7 in net benefits to the UK economy long-term.

Departments and public bodies have been given four areas to identify and prioritise their proposals, including:

• Infrastructure and core capabilities – where ten-year funding will allow recipients to develop or maintain core national infrastructure or support more impactful use of such infrastructure, which would not be possible under shorter funding cycles.
• Talent attraction and retention – where the skills development in a particular area is demonstrably vital to the UK growth agenda and longer-term funding would enable development of a pipeline of skilled researchers, scientists or engineers that otherwise would be difficult.
• International collaboration – where there are demonstrable, additional opportunities for international collaborations with wider strategic benefits.
• Partnerships and business collaboration – where there is demonstrable need for long term partnerships with industry – including charity and philanthropy – to tackle a significant challenge relevant to economic growth, and where shorter funding cycles would impede effective partnerships.

Blake Richmond, Chief Operating Officer at Resonate Group, said, “As the government ramps up R&D spending plans for the next decade, it’s important that transport and the railway network are top of mind for innovation. Investing in our nation’s railways can significantly unlock regional benefits through job creation, improved transport connections and encouraging local development, helping to turbocharge growth in regional hubs.”

The plan also seeks to deliver longer-term funding for infrastructure including large-scale research facilities and equipment, to increase the chances of driving technology solutions that have a significant public impact.

Tristian Wilkinson, Chief for Public Sector at AND Digital said, “For the UK tech industry, this announcement couldn’t come at a better time. Businesses working in frontier technologies, whether it’s AI or advanced cybersecurity, are under growing pressure to deliver innovation while navigating increasingly complex regulatory and security landscapes.”

“Too often, businesses have to compromise on foundational elements like secure infrastructure or interoperable systems because short-term funding creates a ‘just get it done’ mentality. In fact, 56 per cent of businesses say they are implementing AI without fixing a problem with their data management first.”

With a ten-year runway, we can finally build with the future in mind, knowing that data privacy, system integrity, and global competitiveness are not afterthoughts, but core design principles.”

The announcement comes ahead of the launch of the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy, positioning the UK as a world-leader in delivering investment and skills jobs across growth-driving sectors.

Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics said, “Long-term R&D funding is a crucial development for data-driven science and innovation with the emergence of AI depending on high-quality, well-curated datasets. But achieving this takes time, consistency and investment in data infrastructure.”

“With a ten-year funding horizon, research organisations are empowered to commit to building and maintaining rigorous data management frameworks: investing in secure storage, robust metadata standards, and governance protocols that ensure datasets remain useful, compliant, and interoperable over time.”

“This isn’t just about collecting more data, it’s about making data trustworthy and actionable. In the long run, that will drive better research outcomes, enable reproducibility, and open up huge opportunities for public-private collaboration based on shared, high-quality data foundations. It sets the stage for deeper industry partnerships and makes the UK a stronger global player in data-led science.”