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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsRachel Reeves used the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024 to present science, technology, research and digital infrastructure as tools for long-term UK growth. The package protected £20.4 billion of public research and development (R&D) funding for 2025–26, committed more than £500 million for broadband and mobile coverage, and added smaller programmes to help businesses adopt technology.
It was not a single technology budget. The measures were spread across research, connectivity, manufacturing, life sciences, industrial strategy and public investment. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects a temporary growth lift, but says output is unchanged in the medium term compared with its previous forecast.
What Reeves actually announced about technology
In her Budget speech, Reeves said innovation and R&D would help create the “growth industries of the future”. She linked more than £20 billion of R&D funding, better broadband and mobile coverage, and support for growth-driving sectors to the government’s wider growth mission.
The emphasis was therefore strategic rather than a promise of one technology-company subsidy. Technology was treated both as a sector in its own right and as infrastructure that could raise productivity across manufacturing, health, energy, finance and public services.
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The £20.4 billion R&D commitment
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) described the Budget as providing £20.4 billion of government R&D investment in 2025–26, the highest total government R&D investment in its announcement. The headline figure covers public research broadly; it is not a £20.4 billion grant pot for commercial technology companies.
| Element | Amount or commitment | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Total government R&D investment | £20.4 billion in 2025–26 | Public R&D across departments, institutions, infrastructure and missions |
| DSIT R&D budget | £13.9 billion | Science and innovation spending overseen by DSIT |
| Core research funding | £6.1 billion | Funding through Research England, research councils and the National Academies |
| Horizon Europe | Association maintained and fully funded | Continued participation in the European research programme |
| Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund | Up to £520 million long term; £70 million in initial grants | Manufacturing investment, with the first grants smaller than the total commitment |
DSIT also highlighted regional Innovation Accelerators and continued support for research infrastructure. Universities and research-intensive firms may benefit from a more predictable public funding base, but the total still has to cover many activities beyond technology start-ups, including national missions and life sciences.
DSIT’s announcement sets out the R&D breakdown and the life-sciences funding distinction.
Connectivity: broadband and mobile coverage
Reeves announced more than £500 million in the following year for reliable, fast broadband and mobile coverage, including rural areas. Better connectivity can support remote work, digital public services, cloud software, data-intensive research and regional businesses.
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The speech established a funding direction, not a completed national rollout. It did not provide a full list of projects, supplier allocations, deployment dates or household-level eligibility. The eventual economic effect will depend on procurement, construction and take-up.
What SMEs were offered for technology adoption
The detailed Budget documents included measures aimed at the much larger population of ordinary small and medium-sized businesses, rather than only research-intensive companies.
- The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce was extended.
- A planned £4 million pilots package was announced to encourage SME technology adoption.
- Funding for the Made Smarter Adoption programme was set to double to £16 million in 2025–26.
- Made Smarter was to expand to all nine English regions.
- Government announced a cross-department review of barriers to adopting transformative technologies.
These measures are modest beside the £20.4 billion R&D envelope. The £4 million was a pilots package, not a universal voucher available to every SME, and the Budget did not fully specify later eligibility or delivery arrangements. Made Smarter’s regional expansion referred to England; it should not be read as a UK-wide scheme covering Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The relevant details appear in the Autumn Budget print document.
Technology in the modern industrial strategy
The Budget placed digital and technologies among eight growth-driving sectors in the emerging modern industrial strategy:
- advanced manufacturing;
- creative industries;
- clean energy industries;
- defence;
- digital and technologies;
- financial services;
- life sciences;
- professional and business services.
The government said it would develop sector plans and target interventions where the UK had, or could develop, a comparative advantage. This makes technology an economy-wide enabler, not merely a label for software and venture-backed start-ups.
The detailed Budget document also connected grid capacity and network infrastructure with investment in AI, data centres, manufacturing and clean energy. That is infrastructure support for technology growth, not evidence of a standalone AI fund. Grid connections, planning and power availability can determine whether data-intensive projects proceed.
Sector-specific innovation measures
Several announcements targeted industries that use advanced technology or generate research spillovers:
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|---|---|---|
| Aerospace | Nearly £1 billion for R&D | Sector programme, not a general technology grant |
| Automotive | More than £2 billion, including electric vehicles and manufacturing | Combines industrial and transition support |
| Life sciences manufacturing | Up to £520 million; £70 million initial grants | Long-term ceiling differs from first allocation |
| Regional innovation | Innovation Accelerators continued in Glasgow, Manchester and the West Midlands | Place-based support in named regions |
| Creative technology | Visual-effects tax relief for film and television | Tax relief rather than direct R&D spending |
Does the Budget improve UK growth?
The government’s argument is that sustained public investment can crowd in private investment, raise productivity and improve living standards. The Budget reported OBR estimates that, if the additional public investment were maintained, GDP could be around 1.1% higher over a 50-year horizon. The same document reported an estimated effect on potential output of 0.1% after ten years and 0.3% in the long run, through private-investment and labour-market effects.
Those are conditional forecasts, not measured results and not an estimate of what technology spending alone will deliver. The OBR’s near-term forecast put growth at 1.1% in 2024, 2.0% in 2025 and 1.8% in 2026.
Its broader assessment is more cautious: the Budget temporarily lifts growth but leaves output unchanged in the medium term against the previous forecast. The package involved roughly £70 billion of additional annual spending—about two-thirds current spending and one-third capital spending—alongside about £36 billion a year in extra tax revenue and £32 billion in extra borrowing. The OBR assessed the tax take as rising to a record 38% of GDP.
That creates a genuine trade-off. Technology firms may gain from research, infrastructure and public-sector demand while operating in an economy with higher taxes, borrowing and employment costs.
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Who is most likely to benefit?
| Group | Potential benefit | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Start-ups and scale-ups | Research ecosystems, Horizon Europe, sector programmes and better connectivity | No blanket technology-company tax cut; many opportunities require eligibility or competition |
| Established technology companies | Public procurement and demand from life sciences, manufacturing, defence and clean energy | Delivery depends on procurement, planning, grid access and skills |
| SMEs | Made Smarter, adoption pilots and wider broadband access | Small pilot budgets and unresolved delivery details; adoption also requires skills and finance |
| Universities and researchers | Protected core funding, Horizon Europe and regional innovation support | Inflation, overheads, recruitment and grant competition remain pressures |
| Regional economies | Rural connectivity and Innovation Accelerators | Benefits depend on rollout and local business capability |
| Cloud and data-centre businesses | Potentially better grid and network conditions | No dedicated AI allocation; connection and planning delays remain material |
What happens next
The Budget’s impact depends on implementation rather than headline totals. The key tests are:
- publication of eligibility and delivery guidance for the SME pilots and Made Smarter expansion;
- industrial-strategy sector plans and subsequent spending-review decisions;
- actual broadband, mobile and grid deployment;
- continuity of R&D funding beyond the immediate year;
- evidence that public spending attracts private investment and raises measured productivity.
Until those steps occur, the Budget supports a direction of travel rather than proving a completed technology growth programme.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: The Autumn Budget made technology, science and innovation explicit parts of the UK’s growth story. Its strongest commitments were broad public R&D funding, connectivity and sector investment, with smaller programmes for SME adoption. Whether that becomes durable technology-led growth depends on delivery, skills, private investment and sustained funding—and the OBR’s medium-term assessment cautions against treating the headline numbers as an immediate or guaranteed boost.
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