Willetts proposes new model for funding innovation

In his first major speech as minister for universities and science, David Willetts today told the Royal Institution that government backing for research made good economic sense.

But he argued that government support for innovation could take other forms than grants for university research, and that its impact did not have to be measured through the success of spinouts.

Speaking in response to a question about the speech, Willetts said: ‘I can’t promise there won’t be cuts – we are facing very tough public spending reductions – but this is an area where if we can show there’s a long-term economic return, I believe the Treasury will listen and understand that model.’

The minister argued that evidence for the importance of research investment could go beyond immediate economic impact, referring to the ‘benefits – often unanticipated – which accrue from blue skies research’.

He announced that the Research Excellence Framework – the new plan to assess research in terms of quality and impact – would be delayed by one year to allow funding bodies and the government to decide if it was the best way of assessing research.