Scotland trails in research spending

Published on Tuesday 13 July 2010 20:39

THE SNP has been warned it is putting at risk Scotland's ability to emerge from recession, after a new report revealed that spending on research and development is lower per person than in the rest of the UK.

Official statistics showed average spend was 344 per person north of the Border, compared with 418 in the UK as a whole, during 2008. The report also revealed the difference between Scotland and EU spending as a percentage of GDP has broadened, at a time when Scotland has pledged to narrow the gap.

The statistics sparked criticism that Scotland is putting its impressive record for innovation and enterprise at risk, and threatening its ability to lift itself out of recession.

The report, "Gross Expenditure on Research and Development Scotland 2008", detailed the latest statistics on R&D carried out by the business, higher education and government sectors in Scotland. It revealed that, between 2007 and 2008, Scotland spent 1.778 million on research and development, a real-terms drop of 0.4 per cent on the previous year.

Scotland now ranks sixth out of all nations and regions of the UK, after the east of England, which spends 897 per head of population, the south-east of England, north-west of England, south-west of England and London.

The publication showed Scotland spent 1.55 per cent of its GDP on R&D, the UK spent 1.79 per cent, the EU on average 1.81 per cent and OECD countries 2.33 per cent. Spending by businesses rose slightly by 0.1 per cent, but Scottish Government spending on R&D dropped by 16 per cent during the year. That fall was largely due to the reclassification of a facility into the higher education sector, a change that saw higher education spending rise by 5.3 per cent to 939m making it the top spender in this area among OECD countries.

The report spelled out that Scotland has pledged to halve the gap in research and development spending compared with the EU average by 2011. However, the gap increased by 0.03 per cent in 2008.

It also showed that business enterprise spending on R&D is second-lowest out of all OECD countries, along with Poland, at 0.48 per cent of Scottish GDP.

This compares with 1.11 per cent for the UK, 1.13 per cent for the EU and 1.63 per cent for OECD countries.

Jeremy Purvis, Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson, said: "Scotland has a proud history of innovation and enterprise. The SNP's extremely poor record on research and development puts this impressive record at risk."

In the past ten years, advances in Scotland have ranged from the creation of Dolly the Sheep - the first cloned mammal - to the invention of the giant Pelamis sea snake, one of the world's first wave-energy machines.

Lewis MacDonald, Scottish Labour enterprise spokesman, s attacked the SNP for its record on R&D: "I think it's a cause for regret," he said. "It's taking a risk on the recovery of our economy at a difficult time when we should be doing everything we can to strengthen it. The economies that recover most quickly are those that embrace innovation and expertise."

The Scottish Government said the education spending was "extremely encouraging" and welcomed the small increase in business spending. A spokesman added: "However, the historically low levels of private sector research and development justifies the clear focus of our economic recovery plan on encouraging innovation. In particular, that backs up our focus on creating the kind of supportive business environment that attracts and retains headquarter functions in Scotland, something R&D operations cluster around."

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