An applied research centre focused on NHS transformation could be created to help align UK science more closely with the Labour government¡¯s political missions.

With leaders at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) keen to show how its ?9 billion of annual research spending is helping Keir Starmer¡¯s administration achieve its electoral promises, one of its largest councils, Innovate UK, is discussing the creation of a new ¡°NHS Catapult¡±.

This would address the ¡°big challenges¡± of UK healthcare including ¡°productivity, staffing, digitalisation [and] bureaucracy¡±, according to board minutes provided to Times Higher Education.

In a section of the meeting on how Innovate UK could provide a ¡°clear narrative¡­for delivering industrial strategy¡± ahead of this spring¡¯s spending review, board members noted how Innovate UK ¡°needs to meet government objectives more effectively¡±, partly by providing ¡°consistent messaging¡± about the impact of research.

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With clean energy and improved NHS delivery among , it was suggested that Innovate UK could focus on ¡°net zero and NHS as key strategic areas¡±. Board members discussed the ¡°potential of an ¡®NHS Catapult¡¯,¡± noting that ¡°this had previously been considered but not progressed due to government priorities at the time¡±.

News of the discussions, which were held in June, comes alongside?UKRI¡¯s announcement that it is??to address each of the five ¡°critical, complex issues identified by the UK government¡¯ missions¡± ¨C namely, ¡°kickstarting economic growth, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, breaking down barriers to opportunities and making Britain a clean energy superpower¡±.

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Discussions to bring at least one of the UK¡¯s catapults into the direct scope of Labour¡¯s research missions might be seen in the same light, albeit the funding involved would be much greater: some ?25 million is attached to the ¡°challenge directors¡± scheme while Innovate UK will soon begin to talks to renew the five-year ?1.6 billion funding of its nine-strong Catapult network, which expires in March 2028.

This includes the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, with research centres at the universities of Sheffield and Warwick, and the London-based Digital Catapult, with links to the universities of Bristol, Edinburgh and Surrey, and Newcastle University, among others.

The explicit alignment of research around the UK government¡¯s missions is, however, likely to raise concerns that research funds are being overly directed by politicians rather than awarded solely on the basis of excellence as decided by researchers ¨C known as the Haldane principle.

David Edgerton, professor of history at King¡¯s College London, who has written about Haldane, told Times Higher Education that there was ¡°really never such a thing as the Haldane principle¡±. ¡°It emerges from time to time as something violated. The point is that government has always supported the research it has wanted to in the way it has wanted to,¡± he said.

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¡°There is a separate issue which gets confused with this which is how the research councils should operate. People should stop thinking in terms of imaginary principles.¡±

An Innovate UK spokesman said ¡°the future shape and scope of our catapult network is always an issue which we address based on the changing needs of ¨C and opportunities for ¨C innovative businesses¡±.

¡°Just like any arms-length government-funded body Innovate UK has ongoing discussions about funding priorities and how they may align with government priorities,¡± he explained, adding: ¡°These decisions are made on the basis of a wide range of factors including government priorities, sector opportunities and the needs of innovative businesses.¡±

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com