£1bn science funds 'disappointing'
Updated on 25 March 2007
A £1 billion boost for science was promised in the Budget.
Chancellor Gordon Brown said public investment in science and technology would rise from £5 billion this year to £6.3 billion by 2010.
But the extra spending was dismissed as "disappointing" by the scientists' and engineers' union Prospect.
General secretary Paul Noon said: "This increase is nowhere near as good as it sounds, as science costs rise faster than inflation and it is unclear how much of this money will actually be spent on science.
"The Chancellor's tight grip on public spending means the increase will almost certainly be more than offset by cuts in departmental science budgets later this year."
He said that although science spending was supposedly "ring-fenced" it was in fact "open to plunder for any Government cause".
Mr Noon was referring to a decision to claw back around £68 million of unspent science funding at the end of this financial year.
The move angered many in the science community, who claim their resources are being unfairly raided.
The Budget package for science includes funding both for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
From a spending baseline of £3,383 million, the amount made available to the DTI will rise to £3,525 million in 2008/9, £3,746 million in 2009/10, and £3,971 million in 2010/11.
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