Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Julian Huppert (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 27 October 2011 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Science Funding

Question: The scientists to whom I speak are concerned not only about the amount of money available now but about the levels of capital funding and the long-term security of funding running many years into the future. While I welcome the announcement of funding for companies such as Babraham, what assurances can the Minister provide that he will try to get more capital funding from the Treasury and to ensure good, long-term security so that scientists will know how much funding there will be for the next decade?

Answer: Of course, we have been able in the past year to fund six of the eight capital projects that the science community identified as being the most important. We think that that has been a considerable achievement in tough times, and we will continue to try to secure financing for other capital programmes in the future.

Secondary information