Sajid Javid’s blueprint for BIS heightens fears for research funding

A leaked consultation on the future of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has deepened concern that November's spending review will be accompanied by a radical overhaul of the research funding system.

Over the summer, George Osborne asked unprotected Whitehall departments to model cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent over the lifetime of this Parliament. Keen to burnish his austerity credentials, business secretary Sajid Javid has let it be known that he favours cuts to his department at the deeper end of this range. In July, as revealed in this blog, he controversially called on consultants McKinsey to help him identify where the axe might fall.

In recent weeks, the likely direction of travel has become clearer. Last month, in an important speech to Universities UK, science minister Jo Johnson said that while he remained committed to the "principle" of the dual-funding support system (currently administered through the Research Councils on one side, and HEFCE on the other), he wanted to see a "simpler system" for allocating resources.