The UK government has been accused of reversing pledges to protect research spending, after £1.6 billion of unused funds earmarked for association to the European Union’s research programme was returned to the Treasury.
The central government supply estimates for 2022-23 show “surrender of unused funding for Horizon and Euratom association” by the former Department for Business, Energy and Industry, with one sum of £1.6 billion and another of £17 million.
The UK government earmarked funding to associate to Horizon Europe, which began in February 2021, or to create a domestic alternative research scheme. But that has been stalled by the UK-EU impasse on the Northern Ireland protocol, after Brussels tied association to a resolution of the wider dispute.
The figures were highlighted by the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE).
