Science Minister, Lord , has provided further
information on how the government selected the 12 UK research
institutions which would receive help to attract overseas
talent through the Global Talent Fund (GTF).
This follows a request from the Committee's Chair, Dame , for the government to provide clarity on
why no institutions in the North of England were chosen, and how
the government assessed institutions to decide which would be
selected.
The government cited the need for speed on funding decisions,
given that other countries were implementing their own schemes to
attract talent, as the reason for their formulaic approach to the
distribution of the GTF.
The letter went on to list the minimum thresholds for the
criteria – the number of international researchers, international
funding, and number of Global Talent visa holders- that each
research organisation had to reach to be selected. However, it
did not respond to a request for more information on
UKRI-endorsed Global Talent visa holders at research
institutions, the only aspect of the criteria not publicly
available for scrutiny.
Eleven institutions met the thresholds, with one unnamed nation
not accounted for, which had an institution in the ‘near miss'
category that was included to ensure the government met its
principle of supporting research across all four UK nations. This
contradicts the Minister's previous correspondence on
the GTF, which stated the twelve institutions selected were
the only ones to meet the criteria, ‘including the strategic
choice to ensure each of the four UK nations was
represented'.
The letter said there were multiple ‘near misses' in English
regions, but a combination of affordability and difficulty in
‘making a defensible choice' between them meant they were not
selected. It did not provide further detail on which institutions
these were.
Additionally, the Minister outlined UKRI investment in the North
between 2021-24, the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF),
and the Innovation Accelerator Pilot.
However, it did not address the Chair's question of what his
department is currently doing to ensure all UK regions have the
capability and skills to capitalise on the programmes it
outlines. Instead, it highlights that DSIT is ‘working closely'
with UKRI and other departments to ‘map critical research
capabilities and talent pipelines across the UK'.
Dame , Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology
Committee, said:
“I welcome greater transparency from the Science Minister on
how recipients of the Global Talent Fund were selected, but it
remains disappointing that institutions across the North of
England have been missed out. His letter emphasises the
importance of supporting research and attracting talent to all
the UK, but why does this not include large regions of
England?
“Research institutions in the North could massively benefit
from help to attract overseas researchers. Whilst the letter does
detail some help for Northern R&D, a lot of these pre-dates
the current government. It's not encouraging that the Minister
didn't answer my questions on what his department is doing now to
ensure the North has the skills and capabilities to capitalise on
schemes to attract talent.
“Additionally, we still have no more information on Global
Talent Visa holders, which is the only part of the Fund's
criteria that remains opaque. It's important that details of this
become readily available to us and can be properly scrutinised-
without it, existing biases may become entrenched.”
