Osborne cash sparks political debate

The £600 million boost for science announced in the Autumn Statement last week has been met with praise but also concerns that science funding is being politicised.

The investment follows a series of cash injections for science infrastructure since the 2010 spending review, when the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had its capital budget cut by 44 per cent. BIS estimates that the government has put back £1.5 billion to compensate for a loss of around £1.6bn.