Most voters in Scotland and Wales back R&D spending

Most voters in the upcoming elections in Scotland and Wales think it is important for devolved governments to invest in research, even though only a third feel this work is relevant to their lives, new polling suggests.

Ahead of the 7 May polls for the Holyrood and Senedd parliaments, the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) surveyed more than 2,700 adults in Scotland and 1,600 in Wales to examine their attitudes towards publicly funded research and development (R&D) activities.

According to the polling, published on 30 March, about three-quarters think it is important for their devolved government to invest in R&D in their nation (77 per cent in Scotland and 72 per cent in Wales), with majority support among all voter groups.

About three-quarters of voters in each nation (75 per cent in Scotland and 74 per cent in Wales) would support their elected representatives campaigning for R&D to improve NHS healthcare, the research found. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent in Scotland and 62 per cent in Wales) wanted to see candidates championing their local universities.

Florence Young, senior public opinion and policy officer at CaSE, said the results indicated that voters “want to see their elected representatives actively supporting R&D both locally and nationally”.

“Being a champion for R&D appears to present little political risk, with strong support for devolved governments to invest in R&D, regardless of which party people intend to vote for,” she added.

Despite that support for public R&D spending “there also remain large parts of society who feel disconnected or uncertain about R&D or its benefits,” continued Young on the finding that more than four in 10 in Scotland (48 per cent) and in Wales (43 per cent) don’t feel a personal connection with R&D.

Moreover, many remain uncertain about R&D’s benefits and the work that R&D organisations do. Nine in 10 voters (87 per cent in Scotland and 91 per cent in Wales) say they did not know much about research undertaken in their nation.

Support for R&D is “broad, but shallow”, the study also found, with just over one in three people stating R&D was relevant to their life (38 per cent in Scotland; 35 per cent in Wales).

Only 38 per cent of voters in Scotland say research is relevant to their lives while 35 per cent of Welsh voters feel the same. 

Far fewer (15 per cent in Scotland; 16 per cent in Wales) said they feel connected with R&D undertaken locally and only around one in 10 (11 per cent in Scotland; 9 per cent in Wales) said they can immediately think of lots of ways that their nation benefits from R&D, polling showed.

Those advocating for R&D must “do more to demonstrate how R&D can be a source of local pride, optimism and hope for the nations’ future and demonstrate it is a tool for tackling the problems that people care about”, the CaSE study concludes.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com