UK government protects science budget in annual spending review

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has given a cautionary welcome to the British government’s commitment to protect the science budget.

In his annual spending review, delivered in the House of Commons today (November 25, 2015), Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the science budget would rise in real terms to £4.7 billion ($7 billion). This will include a £1.5 billion new Global Challenges Fund.

As part of today's announcement he said: “In the modern world one of the best ways you can back business is by backing science. That is why in the last Parliament I protected the resource budget for science in cash terms. In this Parliament I’m protecting it in real terms so it rises to £4.7 billion.