Question reference: S5W-27015
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 20 January 2020
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 February 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to help meet the UK-wide target of 2.4% of GDP being invested in research and development.
Answer
Over the last year of available data, Scotland’s GERD as a share of GDP has increased 0.1 percentage points, which is five times the growth of the UK as a whole which is 0.02 percentage points. If this trend continues, Scotland will exceed the UK 2027 target of increasing investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP.
In terms of business R&D funding, we have made available an additional £15m per year between financial years 2018/19 and 2020/21. In addition, the Scottish Government has organised cross-sectoral engagements with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to highlight our science, research and innovation landscape and activities. These have informed the on-going development of the BEIS UK roadmap.