Blog Post
Ministers must invest beyond London, Oxford and Cambridge for real innovation
The Times • Feb 26, 2021
Excessive concentration is rarely a good thing. In markets, it leads to monopoly, higher prices and lower quality. In society, it leads to homogeneity. And in a national economy, it creates imbalances which can ultimately hinder growth and fairness. And yet excessive concentration is exactly what is happening as a result of the way we fund research and development.
New research from the think tank Onward published today shows that nearly three out of every four research-intensive jobs created in the last decade were based in the areas across London, Oxford and Cambridge, despite their making up only a fifth of the total population.
It’s a problem that has hounded successive governments. Under Labour, AstraZeneca announced the closure of its research site in Leicestershire. Less than three years later their footprint was consolidated further from Cheshire to Cambridge.
For the government’s levelling up agenda to succeed, it’s going to be crucial to close the innovation gap — the pressing challenge for ministers will be how to make that happen. The government has already committed to spending 2.4 per cent of GDP on research and development by 2027, a welcome increase. According to the Campaign for Science and Engineering, that pledge will be worth an additional £9 billion a year. Onward’s research recommends, amongst other things, dedicating that uplift in the budget to the rest of the country, outside Oxford, Cambridge and London. The government’s own evidence has said productivity would be up to 4 per cent higher by 2027 as a result. Local economies will grow further and world-leading research will be produced faster.
This isn’t about defunding the Golden Triangle. Much of the work that places the UK at the global forefront for innovation and advances is undertaken by scientists and researchers there, the clearest example being the discovery of a successful coronavirus vaccine in Oxford. As clusters of world-class research capabilities, they will continue to receive funding from government, partners and industry collaborations because the ecosystems there are already established and mature. Onward’s recommendations are about harnessing the talents of people in places like Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle to power the recovery too. Whether in Bristol’s Robotics Laboratory
or Newcastle’s Centre for Life — both cities with globally competitive expertise — there is untapped potential to grow further with greater support and investment......
