Spending Review 2000: DTI
External links
18 July 2000
SR2000/DTI
BOOST FOR 21ST CENTURY SCIENCE AND ENTERPRISE
Science, innovation and enterprise and the Post Office network received a big boost today when the Chancellor announced the results of the Government's spending review for the Department of Trade and Industry.
Winners in the three-year Spending Review include science, e-commerce, small business, the regions and disadvantaged communities and the Post Office network, which is to receive major investment as the first stage of a programme of modernisation. Excluding the management of liabilities, spending on trade and industry is set to grow in real terms by an annual average of 6.6 per cent over the three years.
The Secretary of State, Stephen Byers, welcomed the outcome:
"This is a good package which will keep Britain at the forefront of scientific advances and enable ideas to be developed commercially. It will encourage innovation and enterprise in our regions removing barriers to finance and helping small companies reach their full potential. The Government recognises that to be successful in the twenty-first century, we must draw upon the skills and potential of all our people."
Among the top priorities has been extra money to keep British science competitive internationally and turn our expertise to economic advantage, with a 7 per cent average annual increase in real terms for DTI funding of science and its exploitation.
This will boost twenty-first century research such as understanding the genetic blueprint, and developing the next generation of e-science, and enhance knowledge transfer to deepen university links with business, help commercialise research and train the next generation of science entrepreneurs.
The Chancellor also confirmed a £1 billion programme of capital investment to tackle the backlog in labs and equipment, in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, and the rise in stipends for Research Council students, from £6,620 outside London to £9,000 a year by 2003-04, both announced at the UK-US Conference on 5 July.
The sponsorship of science and innovation complements a broader package to promote business-led growth across our regions and communities. This includes £190 million of new funding over three years for the Small Business Service (£54m for 2001-02, £73m for 2002-03, £63m for 2003-04), in addition to the £84 million (£34m/£34m/£17m) for venture capital funding promised in the Budget. This will maximise opportunities for start-ups and small business growth across the country, and more than treble the Phoenix Fund (first announced in November 1999) to open up enterprise for all.
The Trade and Industry Secretary also announced the first stage of a programme for modernising the Post Office, with new investment of £270 million over the next three years to start the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Performance and Innovation Unit report. The Government stands ready to add significantly to this investment over the next few years with the cost-effective extension of the Government General Practitioner (GGP) and Internet Learning Access Points (ILAP), following satisfactory evaluation of the initial pilots, and through support for the development of the proposed Universal Bank, with the exact amount of new financial support to be determined once viable proposals have been drawn up and approved.
The Spending Review also provides funding in full over the Spending Review period for the £530 million launch investment in the Airbus A3XX, bringing major benefits to the manufacturing base, particularly in the South West and Wales.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. The settlement for Trade and Industry in the Spending Review 2000 in the following table shows total spending on the DTI, its funding for British Trade International (which also receives finance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), the regulators (OFT, OFGEM and OFTEL) and the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD). This includes provision for the DTI's management of liabilities from the nuclear and coal sectors, which will decline in aggregate over the Spending Review period. Excluding liabilities, this represents annual average increases in total spending of 6.6 per cent in real terms over the three years.
Key figures
| £ million | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| Department of Trade and Industry1 | 3728 | 4595 | 4280 | 4222 |
| Others2 | 24 | 33 | 33 | 33 |
| Total Trade and Industry* | 3752 | 4628 | 4313 | 4255 |
| of which: Resource Budget | 3288 | 3907 | 3549 | 3217 |
| Capital Budget | 464 | 721 | 764 | 1038 |
|
* Departmental Expenditure Limit 1. Figures include funding of British Trade International (which also receives £6/6/3 million from the FCO), and provision for management of liabilities which decline in aggregate over the Spending Review period 2. Includes Office of Fair Trading, OFGEM, OFTEL and ECGD. |
||||
2. The £1 billion government programme of capital investment in science, spread over the three years, was announced by the Chancellor on 5 July at the UK/US conference. It comprises £775 million of Government money and £225 million from the Wellcome Trust.
3. The Spending Review also provides a major package of £270 million funding over three years as the first stage of a programme to modernise the Post Office network, of which £220 million will be allocated from the DTI's budget. The plans to modernise the Post Office arise from a detailed review by the Government's Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) and were first announced by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 28 June. The investment is to enable the Post Office to embark on a programme of modernisation across the network to maintain the rural network, to improve support to local offices in urban deprived areas, and to enable the piloting of new initiatives for post offices to act as Government one-stop shops (General Government Practitioners) and provide people with new opportunities to use the Internet (Internet Learning Access Points). The Post Office will be developing proposals and a business plan for a Universal Bank, to tackle financial exclusion and allow customers to get cash out of the post office and set up direct debit arrangements.
4. For further details contact the DTI press office on: 020 7215 2345.