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Gov announces £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund to improve regional transport

The Prime Minister has this morning announced that the UK will see its biggest ever increase in research and development investment, while launching a new fund to transform transport connections within city regions across the country

According to the PM, the government will work with industry to boost spending on R&D to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, which could increase public and private R&D investment by as much as £80 billion over the next 10 years.

This will begin with an extra investment of £2.3bn in 2021/22, raising total public investment in R&D to £12.5bn for that year.

In addition, Mrs May announced the launch of a £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund that will improve transport links and promote local growth within city regions, placing cities at the heart of our industrial strategy.

The Prime Minister, who will visit the West Midlands today with the Chancellor and Business Secretary, said the scheme will also include £250m to help drive the West Midlands engine.

Next Monday the launch of the Industrial Strategy White Paper will announce four Grand Challenges that reflect global trends that will shape our future and industries where the UK has an edge, these are artificial intelligence and the data economy; clean growth; healthy ageing; and the future of mobility.

The government will work with business, academia and civil society to build on UK strengths in these areas and ensure Britain’s economy is fit for the future. The Business Secretary will set out more detail on these Grand Challenges next week.

Writing in The Times today, the Prime Minister said: “One of my first actions as Prime Minister was to begin the development of a modern industrial strategy that will help businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs right across the country.

“This is a new long-term approach to shaping a stronger and fairer economy for decades to come. It helps young people to develop the skills they need to take up the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future.

“Our Industrial Strategy will propel Britain to global leadership of the industries of the future, seizing the big opportunities of our time – from Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to clean energy and self-driving vehicles.”