North East to receive £30m in funding for advanced sectors
This funding forms part of a broader government initiative led by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has earmarked £86 billion in the Spending Review for advanced manufacturing and defence.
It is part of the government’s ‘Modern Industrial Strategy’ aimed at rejuvenating Britain.
The fund will grant at least £30 million each to seven Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England, which include the North East alongside Greater Manchester, West Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, and Greater London.
Equivalent regions in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will also benefit.
Welcoming the announcement, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “Our region is already an advanced manufacturing powerhouse and this announcement boosts my mission to create new growth, new jobs and new opportunities in two exciting ways.
“We will now be able to support more research and development projects in established sectors, such as the car industry and green energy, which are cornerstones of the North East economy.
“We can also invest in new technologies from kitchen table innovations to our fast-emerging trailblazers in the space industry and AI among other examples.”
This funding initiative is part of a larger plan to bolster research and innovation across the UK.
The objective is to enhance Britain’s global standing in these fields via a substantial funding package worth more than £22.5 billion a year by 2029/30.
This investment in research and development (R&D) is anticipated to generate new jobs and fuel economic growth.
It will also ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of pioneering future technologies.
The R&D package will enable local leaders to develop ‘innovation clusters’ nationwide, unlocking talent and opportunity in every region and nation.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Britain is the home of science and technology.
“Through the Plan for Change, we are investing in Britain’s renewal to create jobs, protect our security against foreign threats and make working families better off.”
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “R&D is the very foundation of the breakthroughs that make our lives easier and healthier – from new medicines enabling us to live longer, more fulfilled lives to developments in AI giving us time back, from easing our train journeys through to creating the technology we need to protect our planet from climate change.
“Incredible and ambitious research goes on in every corner of our country, from Liverpool to Inverness, Swansea to Belfast, which is why empowering regions to harness local expertise and skills for all of our benefit is at the heart of this new funding – helping to deliver the economic growth at the centre of our Plan for Change.”
The government says that every £1 invested in R&D generates up to £7 in benefits to the UK economy and attracts double the amount in private investment in the long run.
And it says, businesses that receive their first R&D grant funding see jobs and turnover increase by over 20 per cent in the following years, providing a ‘significant boost’ to the UK economy.
R&D is also ‘at the heart of around three million jobs in the UK, with the power to create many more as discoveries advance’.