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¡± ¨C 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,?.

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.

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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.

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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 ¨C 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