The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold an evidence session
scrutinising the work of UK Research and Innovation
(UKRI) at 10am on Thursday
5th
June.
Research and innovation (R&I) is considered by government to
be vital to the UK's future and to achieving its long-term and
complex policy goals. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the government
committed to invest £20.4bn in R&I in 2025-26. In 2023-24
UKRI had a budget of £9.6 billion, making it the UK's largest
single public funder of R&I.
Two panels will be held. The PAC will first hear from Sir David
Grant CBE, who led the 2022 Independent review of UKRI;
and Prof Paul Boyle CBE, who is the Policy Lead for R&I of
Universities UK, and Vice Chancellor of Swansea University. The
PAC will seek witnesses' views on what UKRI does well, and where
improvements can be made. The PAC will then hear from Professor
Dame Ottoline Leyser DBE FRS, UKRI's chief executive, and senior
officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and
Technology (DSIT).
A likely focus of questions will be how to get the right risk
management and organisational culture to support genuinely
pioneering R&I. Decision-makers in the organisation
identified to the National Audit Office's recent report on UKRI
potential barriers to operating with well-managed risk, such as
concerns over the reputational implications of contentious
projects, funding constraints leading to less openness to
failure, and a perceived culture of risk aversion in the academic
community which may influence decisions made in the peer review
process.
PAC members are also likely to discuss UKRI's own strategic
objectives and performance, as well as any insights and good
practice in supporting R&I.
Witnesses
Panel 1 from 10am:
· Sir David Grant CBE, Lead,
Independent review of UK Research and Innovation 2022
· Professor Paul Boyle CBE,
Universities UK Board Member and Vice Chancellor at Swansea
University
Panel 2 from approx. 10.45am
· Professor Dame Ottoline
Leyser DBE FRS, Chief Executive, UK Research and Innovation
(UKRI)
· Siobhan Peters, Chief
Finance Officer, UKRI
· , Permanent Secretary,
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
· Alexandra Jones, Director
General, Science, Innovation and Growth (DSIT)
