LONDON—Following the release of the UK Government’s Spending Review 2025, the Center for Data Innovation released the following statement from Policy Analyst Matthew Kilcoyne:
The UK government’s Spending Review outlines a modest increase in R&D spending—from £20.4 billion to £22.6 billion by 2029—barely enough to keep pace with inflation over the four-year period.
The headline £2 billion AI Opportunities Action Plan sounds substantial, but with 50 separate recommendations to deliver and a significant portion already allocated as startup subsidies through the British Business Bank, this funding may be stretched thin across too many priorities.
These investments provide some support to the UK tech economy, but they represent incremental rather than transformational change. To truly boost economic growth and compete globally, the UK needs to radically increase public R&D funding and adopt bolder policies that catalyse private-sector investment in R&D, technology, and automation.
The current approach, while welcome, is not sufficient to position the UK as a leader in the global innovation economy. The UK risks sleepwalking toward tech irrelevance, one modest budget increase at a time.
Contact: Nicole Hinojosa, press@datainnovation.org
