Parliament's senior committee claims UKRI lacks accountability
28 Jul 2025
Parliament’s senior select committee has called on government to impose tighter scrutiny on UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) support for commercial development of university R&D ventures.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended that Whitehall should implement impact assessments of UKRI funding commitments.
This should be accompanied by better identification of those areas where the UK was failing to translate areas of research strength into scaled up innovation and more effort to address skills gaps, said the committee.
It also made detailed criticism of UKRI for alleged lack of transparency, accountability and clear objectives.
Quoted on the House of Commons website, PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP said: “Our inquiry found that the environment in which UKRI operates poses significant challenges in translating important research into successful going concerns.”
Criticism of UKRI has particular implications for science related research and investment because the majority of its nine member bodies are STEM-focused funders.
Among the member organisations are: Innovate UK, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, Research England, Economic and Social Research Council, plus the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The committee noted the emphasis placed by government on scaling up research and innovation in key sectors such as engineering, biology and quantum in order to boost the country’s global position
Sir Geoffrey added that while government must act on the skills gaps identified to more reliably produce startups, “UKRI itself must bring up to date its own systems, while embedding better accountability and transparency in its organisations”.
The committee warned that an absence of clear objectives made it difficult to assess performance and ensure accountability.
It cited a lack of data and targets made it difficult to assess whether UKRI was making sufficient progress in increasing UK private sector investment – estimated at £46 billion for 2024.
Impact assessment was needed, said committee members, to judge the effectiveness of UKRI support in helping to attract external investors prior to ventures’ incorporation.
They called on the organisation and its funder, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to develop a joint approach to risk when funding projects.
A further area of concern was IT and cyber security, with the committee noting UKRI lacked the systems of a modern organisation, stating that some 15% of its grants lacked a full description. In addition, an absence of collective data on where government is already invested in research and innovation made investor decision harder.
With international competition, spending restrictions, and universities’ financial challenges threatening further limits on investment, the PAC chair concluded: “There is much more to do if UKRI is to become the focused actor delivering on government’s priorities."
NEWS: UKRI this week announced further investment of £168 million into the Administrative Data Research UK data research programme. Launched in 2018, ADR-UK has contributed to policy decisions across health, education, justice and the economy.
Pic: Shutterstock (Ivan Marc)
