Mayors urge UKRI to 'think again' after Northern universities miss out on £54m talent fund
Northern Mayors have urged the Government to review how UK Research and Innovation hands out funding, after no universities in the North of England were included in a £54m overseas talent fund.
A dozen higher education institutions across the UK were handed a share of Labour’s new Global Talent Fund, which it said would “put rocket boosters” into innovation across the country.
The money will be used to attract top international academics, and was awarded to Oxford and Cambridge, as well as four other universities in the South East.
However, despite an impressive research record at universities like York, Leeds and Sheffield, no institutions across the North were awarded a portion of the pot.
Now, all of the North’s metro mayors, including the four Yorkshire representatives, have written to the Government urging the fund be reviewed.
In a joint statement, they said: “We are deeply disappointed that universities in the North of England, some of the best and brightest in the world, have once again been overlooked in the allocation of national innovation funding, despite their research credentials.
"As Mayors, we stand ready to support the Government in its mission to make the UK a global science superpower.
“But to truly deliver on that mission, investment in innovation must reflect the full breadth and depth of talent that exists across the country, not continue to be concentrated disproportionately in London and the South-East.
"We are calling for urgent reform to ensure greater transparency and fairness in how public research and innovation funding is allocated.
Strategic funds like this must support national growth, and that means recognising and investing in the full potential of the North of England and the 15 million people we collectively represent.
"We urge UKRI to think again, review this disappointing decision and work together with us on creating a new funding model that truly reflects the strengths and aspirations of all of our regions.”
It comes after research from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership found that the UKRI criteria for awarding the fund - including a requirement for 35 per cent of academic staff being international - “appears to have disproportionately excluded high-performing institutions in the North of England”.
Chief executive Henri Murison said: “It’s deeply disappointing that not a single Northern university will benefit - especially when the selection criteria were both arbitrary and inconsistently applied.
“The North isn’t pleading, it’s simply asking not to be overlooked in favour of special treatment for nations like Wales, which, while important, are far smaller in scale.
“If the government is serious about delivering growth across every part of the country, it cannot allow UKRI … to stand in the way of that ambition.”
The N8 Research Partnership - which includes the eight most prestigious universities in the North of England - said its members contribute £18.8bn to the economy annually, supporting 119,000 jobs and generating £3.3bn in export earnings.
It is calling for UKRI to revisit the allocation process, with a spokesperson saying: “A more regionally balanced approach would not only better reflect the depth and breadth of the UK’s research excellence, but also support the government’s goals around productivity and economic rebalancing - while ultimately delivering a significant boost to UK science.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are determined to maximise the opportunities in every part of the country, including the north of England, through our regional growth strategy.”