There are several reasons why the proportion of smaller businesses receiving funding could have fallen including the increase in UKRI’s requirements for coinvestment from participants for wave 3 funding. UKRI increased the co-investment requirement from industry in wave 3, responding to a requirement from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. The ratio of public investment to private investment increased from 1:0.45 in Wave 1 to 1:1.5 in Wave 3.48 The Department t...

There are several reasons why the proportion of smaller businesses receiving funding could have fallen including the increase in UKRI’s requirements for coinvestment from participants for wave 3 funding. UKRI increased the co-investment requirement from industry in wave 3, responding to a requirement from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. The ratio of public investment to private investment increased from 1:0.45 in Wave 1 to 1:1.5 in Wave 3.48 The Department told us that it could not prove that the drop in the proportion of small businesses between waves 2 and 3 was solely due to the increase in coinvestment. Type: conclusion | Number: 18 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2021 4.2 UKRI is committed to increasing engagement with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the research and innovation system. The NAO report notes th