UK Government Expenditure on Science, Engineering and Technology: 2013

Main issues specific to this bulletin

This is the second time that we have published the UK Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Statistics. These estimates are official statistics which were previously published annually by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) using estimates provided by us. If you have any questions regarding the levels of SET expenditure by government departments, or any other queries related to science and technology policy, please contact James Achur at james.achur@bis.gsi.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 1331.

SET statistics are broader than just research and development (R&D), as they comprise government R&D expenditure on in-house R&D, purchased R&D and funding provided to external organisations for R&D, the indicative UK contributions to European Union (EU) R&D expenditure, knowledge transfer activities, and personnel associated with scientific and technical postgraduate education and training.

The main source of the estimates related to UK government departments, Research Councils and HEFCs, is our annual Government Research and Development survey (GovERD). The GovERD survey collects gross and net expenditure estimates, as well as funding received for R&D. Net expenditure is calculated as gross expenditure minus all funding received for R&D. This is to avoid any double counting. As previously mentioned, the estimates in the UK Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D, 2013 (GERD) statistical bulletin relate to expenditure on performing in-house R&D by each sector of the UK economy, whereas SET focuses on the UK government financing for all R&D regardless of who undertakes the work.

HM Treasury provides the indicative contributions that the UK makes to EU R&D expenditure.

Estimates from the GovERD survey, of expenditure on R&D performed in the UK by government and Research Councils, are also included in the GERD statistical bulletin published earlier this year and these form part of the broader estimates of SET.

The main distinctions between this publication and GERD are:

a) UK GERD includes only R&D expenditure which is carried out within the UK borders, and includes all sectors of the UK economy. UK government departments’ expenditure on R&D, both as funder and performer in the UK, are included in GERD. It also includes all the other UK sectors both providing the funding and performing R&D in the UK.

b) SET includes all UK government expenditure on in-house R&D, purchased R&D and other funding provided to external organisations for R&D (both within the UK and overseas). As a result, the estimate of the R&D component of the UK government’s expenditure on SET in 2013 (£9.8 billion) is just over 4 times larger than the UK government departments’ expenditure on performing in-house R&D in the 2013 UK GERD (£2.3 billion). Figure 9 and Table 1 show the amount that each SET contributor spent in 2013 on in-house R&D performed in the UK and on total SET expenditure. Please note that HEFCs are only funders of R&D as they do not perform R&D themselves. Therefore the HEFCs' value in figure 9 is all classed as SET expenditure. Also, it is unknown where and how the UK contributions to EU R&D expenditure are spent, so none of these estimates are regarded as R&D performed in the UK.

c) SET additionally includes the UK’s indicative contributions to EU R&D expenditure and expenditure on knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer (including technology transfers) are activities designed to help the conveyance of ideas, research, results and skills between researchers, businesses and wider communities. These actions contribute to the dissemination and application of scientific and technical knowledge, including consultancy services, demonstration projects, and sharing information. For example developing partnerships, establishing forums for knowledge exchange, specialist training, and licensing.

Table 1 in the UK GERD Statistical Bulletin published on 20 March 2015, included the totals of expenditure on performing in-house R&D by UK government departments (civil and defence departments) and Research Councils of £1.5 billion and £0.8 billion respectively. This included funding from other UK sectors and overseas. The breakdowns of these high level estimates are available in this SET publication in Tables 12 and 13.

SET also includes data tables on qualified scientists and engineers in the labour force by gender. These estimates are from our Labour Force survey and are categorised by type of qualification and occupation, from the population of Great Britain aged 16 to 64. Occupation is based on the Standard Occupational Classification 2010 (SOC 2010). See Tables 14 and 15 in the data section of this publication.

A quality report for this specific output is not yet available, but should be available by the end of August 2015. However, one is available for the UK GERD (137 Kb Pdf) . This contains relevant information as the majority of the SET estimates were collected via the GovERD survey, the same source as the government sector part of the UK GERD.

Official statistics

The UK Statistics Authority has not yet reviewed this publication, and these statistics are still designated as Official Statistics. This is a relatively new publication, and feedback from users in the coming months will help shape the future of this bulletin ready for UK Statistics Authority formal assessment.

Timeliness and punctuality

These official statistics were previously published by BIS in September each year. By publishing the 2013 SET Statistical Bulletin in July 2015, we have enabled access to these estimates two months earlier.

Completeness of coverage

The GovERD survey is conducted annually as a census survey. UK government departments, including Research Councils and HEFCs, are contacted to establish their department’s structure and whether they carried out and/or funded R&D activities in the survey period. This ensures that the correct respondents receive the survey. Approximately 140 government departments and Research Councils are sent the questionnaire. Government departments are asked to include the R&D they performed as part of their estimates. These include estimates for R&D performed by local authorities and NHS trusts.

To estimate government funded R&D expenditure in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), grant income is used as a proxy for expenditure.

The grants are classified into 3 groups:

• Research-oriented grants. These include the block research grant, plus other grants which are all deemed to be used for research

• Teaching-oriented grants. These are considered to be for teaching only activities, and are not included in the research expenditure estimate

• Other grants. These are not allocated specifically for research or teaching, but may contain elements of both to varying degrees. These are reviewed annually and an estimate is made of the research expenditure elements within each grant

The estimates of R&D expenditure were collected from the HEFCs for England, Scotland, Wales and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI).

Revisions

Revisions have been made to a small number of the estimates in 2011 and 2012. These were notified through the survey process by individual departments, and were mainly due to a combination of late returns and misreporting, which had little impact on the SET estimates.

Sampling variability

The estimates from the GovERD survey are based on a census of all UK government departments, Research Councils and HEFCs known to carry out and/or provide funding for R&D activities. They are not therefore subject to sampling errors, but may have some non-sampling errors. These include factors such as population coverage, misreporting and non-response bias. These errors are generally hard to quantify because of the difficulty in identifying the population of actual/likely R&D performers, and because of problems ensuring departments adhere to Frascati R&D definitions.

The response rate was 95% and included all the departments with the highest SET expenditure. Forecast data were used to estimate for the non responding departments, which accounted for approximately 3% of the total SET estimate.

Discontinuities in estimates

UK government departments and Research Councils change their reporting structures as governments and policy requirements change. These may have an impact on the comparability of individual departments' estimates over time, as responsibilities move between departments for specific projects.

General information

These points should be noted when examining the data tables (573 Kb Excel sheet) included in this release:

• there may be discrepancies between totals and the sum of their independently rounded parts

• caution should be taken when examining departmental time series. Please use the notes beneath each table which explain machinery of government changes

• launch Investment is a risk sharing government investment in the design of civil aerospace projects in the UK. The investment is repayable at a real rate of return, usually via levies on sales of the product. Launch Investment is only available to the civil aerospace sector, and is permitted under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, which charges the Secretary of State with “organising, carrying out and encouraging measures for the designing, development and production of civil aircraft”. These values have been negative every year since 2004. See BIS Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 for more information. The UK Government’s commitment to the UK civil aerospace sector is documented in the Aerospace Growth Partnership

• the categories as presented in Table 7 are defined by the UK Government’s primary purpose for the R&D activity, and not the intentions of the researchers or the end result. The primary purposes are: General research – all basic and applied R&D which advances knowledge for its own sake, and support for post graduate research studentships (PhDs); Government services – R&D relevant to any aspect of government service provision (all defence expenditure is included here); Policy research – R&D which government funds to create new knowledge which informs policy making (excluding government services and technology support), and for monitoring developments of significance for the welfare of the population; Technology support – applied and/or strategic R&D that advances the technology underpinning the UK economy

The EU supports R&D programmes in member states. The UK makes a positive net contribution to the EU budget and a proportion of this is assumed to be for R&D, and is included in SET data Tables 1 to 4. However, because no specific information is available on where and how these contributions are spent, they are excluded from the remaining SET tables.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) terminology is used to classify the main sectors of the economy. Government corresponds to the General Government sector of the UK National Accounts.

Prior to 2007, VAT related to these estimates was collected separately, but has been excluded from these estimates. However, it should be noted that various amounts of VAT may have been included by some departments due to difficulties in separating out expenditure subject to VAT. Since the 2007 data collection, the GovERD survey has included additional information throughout, notifying respondents to exclude VAT from the estimates they provide.

Users and uses of SET estimates

There are users within and outside government who use these estimates to produce various analyses and to inform policy decisions.

• The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) use SET and R&D estimates to assess policy impact and inform debate

• The Welsh Government (WG), Scottish Government (SG) and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DELNI) use SET and GERD estimates as key indicators for measuring the performance of their respective economies within the UK, as well as to monitor and develop R&D policies which seek to increase R&D investment

• The Research and Development Society is a UK based organisation formed to promote and improve the understanding of R&D in all its forms. Its members include representatives from industry, government departments and agencies, universities and consultants. The Research and Development Society use SET estimates as a key source of information for understanding how much is being invested in R&D from the UK on an annual basis, and to inform wider debates about R&D

As this is a relatively new statistical bulletin relating to R&D statistics, we would appreciate your views. Do you make use of our annual estimates on the UK Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD), UK GERD or this bulletin? If yes, we would like to hear from you (RandD@ons.gov.uk) and understand how you make use of these statistics, and how we can seek to improve them. This will enable us, in the future, to better meet your needs as a user.

Coherence

UK government departments' R&D expenditure in the UK were included in the UK GERD Statistical Bulletin published on 20 March 2015.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) publishes extensive defence statistics. Their expenditure on defence R&D is published as part of the UK Defence Statistics Compendium.

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Special events

We have published commentary, analysis and policy on 'Special Events' which may affect statistical outputs. For full details visit the special events page on our website.

Release policy

Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available by visiting www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html or from the Media Relations Office email: media.relations@ons.gov.uk