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Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Performance Table for SBRI Participating Departments of Extramural R&D Spend FY 2006-2007

Footnote

Please note that to make the performance table more robust and for greater ease of reference, we have this year slightly amended the format and content of the table. The table below clarifies the column headings:

DFES is not able to supply actual expenditure for all R&D as development spend is not recorded as a separate element. Extramural and baseline are based on the estimates supplied to ONS for 2005-06 Government R&D surveys. SME figures are based on research budget spend only and do not therefore accurately represent the Department’s true SME spend.

DFT figures are based on its total value of contracts let in that year excluding VAT. The baseline figures provided under SBRI also exclude VAT. This is because the contractual data it has on contracts, including SMEs, is exclusive of VAT (and, of course, VAT may not always be applicable). DfT seldom spend exactly to budget so comparisons of budget and actual performance (ie contracts) will always generate differences.

DOH figures represent the total value of contracts awarded. Data is derived from the National Research Register. The proposed baseline for SBRI excludes the Health Technology Devices programme as state aid rules are applicable.

In 2006-07, it also allocated R&D transitional funding to NHS providers (about £510 million), supported intra-mural research in its arm's length bodies, provided personal awards to support research capacity development in the NHS, and supported research infrastructure in the NHS (e.g. topic-specific clinical research networks). From April 2006, it began a phased implementation of the new funding schemes contained with the new national health research strategy. Further details at http://www.nihr.ac.uk.

Home Office does not have a baseline budget for research and has provided estimated spend figures. However, the estimate supplied includes all main items of R&D expenditure and provides a reliable indication. The Home Office also does not have a baseline figure for SBRI and its use of the 'Total extramural R&D spend' figure in this column represents the total potential funding available to SBRI.

MOD actual extramural R&D expenditure will be slightly higher than that specified for the SBRI survey. This is because R&D expenditure for the SBRI survey is compiled using the defence contracts expenditure database from which data is available at company level. Although this database captures the large majority of all MOD expenditure, there are items that cannot be captured from this source and which are not available at company level. These include R&D subcontracted by DSTL & Met Office, UK work-share of NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Mgt Agency (NETMA) expenditure and payments made by British Defence Staff US. Work that an SME obtains via prime contracts will also not show in this analysis. The figures provided do however capture the bulk of all R&D coded expenditure and the relatively small missing element is unlikely to have any adverse impact on the recorded percentage spend with SMEs.

There are some R&D coded payments within the contracts database for which the individual contractor name is not available. An amount of approximately £90m in relation to this was included in the 2005/06 total SME spend figure. For 2006/07 and future years this expenditure, although included in total extramural expenditure, will be excluded from SME total spend as the SME status cannot be determined.