Most UK research council funds now spent outside south-east

UK research councils awarded more funding to regions outside London and the south-east for the first time, new analysis on regional investment disparities shows.

According to a breakdown of how UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invested a total of £9.1 billion in public money in 2023-24, £4.614 billion was allocated to areas outside London, the south-east and the east of England, collectively known as the “Greater south-east” – marginally more than the £4.550 billion awarded to institutions in the UK capital and Greater south-east. This means there was broadly an even split in research funding between the UK’s Greater south-east and the rest of the country.

That compares with 49 per cent of funds going outside the Greater south east in 2022-23 and 47 per cent in 2021-22, says the study, published on 10 March.

This increase was driven by significantly improved grant success in the east Midlands, west Midlands, the north-east and south-west, where UKRI income increased by more than inflation (13 per cent) between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

In contrast, institutions in London and the south-east increased their overall grant income by less than inflation over this period, the study says.

The closing of the research funding gap follows a pledge by the UK government in 2022 to “level up” UK research funding by growing public research spending outside the Greater south-east by 40 per cent by 2030. It also vowed to increase the proportion of all government R&D spending going outside the south-east to 55 per cent by the end of 2023-24.

Source: 

UKRI: Geographical distribution of UKRI funding, financial years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

While the percentage of UKRI funding heading outside the Greater south-east has increased significantly in the past two years, the study points out that regional disparities are still stark if per-capita funding is taken into account.

For every person living in the Greater south-east, UKRI invested £183 in 2023-24 compared with £106 per person outside it. For Scotland, that figure was £101 per person, in Wales it was £53 and in Northern Ireland it was £45 – about a third of the UK average of £134 per person.

Overall, £8.4 billion of UKRI’s spending went to English institutions in 2023-24, with £552 million going to Scotland, £168 million to Wales and £87 million to Northern Ireland.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com