The Business Enterprise Research and Development survey provides information on Research and Development (R&D) expenditure in the UK by business enterprises, R&D employment and sources of funds. The R&D survey is an annual survey of around 4,600 businesses based on a continually updated register of R&D performers.
Publications
This report provides a picture of survey activity across the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and how this has changed over the past financial year.
Breakdowns of research and development spending and employment by UK business across different market sectors.
A National Statistics publication on Research and Development expenditure in Scotland
Statistics on Innovation among Northern Ireland Businesses.
Report summarising people's experiences of working from home and receiving home deliveries of food and other goods.
The most reliable estimate of national research and development spending that draws together information on research and development spending in the public and private sectors: business enterprises, government, higher education, private non-profit.
Gross expenditure on Research and Development in Scotland broken down by expenditure type (by Business, Government and/or Higher Education) - with UK and International comparisons.
This release will test the long held assumption that funders of research and development are also the owners of any resulting asset, using the results from a pioneering question added to Gross Expenditure on Research and Development surveys. The paper will then suggest how R&D capital should be allocated across industrial sectors.
PAYE and corporation tax receipts from the banking sector Pay-As-You-Earn (income tax and national insurance contributions)
This publication contains information about Identified Personal Wealth in the UK, i.e. wealth based on the assets (including land and buildings, cash, bank and building society accounts and securities) of the estates that require a grant of representation.
Information on the level of Research & Development (R&D) activity in Northern Ireland.
Information on the level of Research & Development (R&D) activity in Northern Ireland.
The Science, Engineering and Technology Indicators, or SET Statistics, are a summary of key indicators covering government financing of science, engineering and technology, research and development (R&D), employment of science graduates and postgraduates, and comparisons with other G7 countries. The statistics are prepared in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics.
Annual statistics collected relating to scientific procedures performed on living animals under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, from licensees in accordance with section 21(7) of the Act.
This suite of three articles will present ONS research into the useful life of R&D, which is due to be capitalised in the UK National Accounts from 2014. It compares estimates made using new questions implemented on ONS R&D surveys to those derived from patent administration data.
HMRC Survey Compliance Costs To Businesses and Local Authorities - This publication contains statistics of HMRC survey compliance costs
The UK Innovation Survey is part of a wider Community Innovation Survey (CIS) covering EU countries. The survey is based on a core questionnaire developed by Eurostat and Member States, and results form part of various EU benchmarking exercises. The UK Innovation Survey is funded by BIS and carried out by the Office for National Statistics wih assistance from the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
Overview
This survey is used to supply data for policy purposes on Science and Technology, of which Research and Development (R&D) is an important part. Within the UK, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills make extensive use of R&D statistics for developing science policy and for monitoring performance.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the EU make use of the data for policy purposes and expenditure and personnel data are required under the European Structural Business Regulation. Eurostat use the regional data to help monitor the workings of the Structural Fund across EU countries.
Research & Development (R&D) and related concepts follow internationally agreed standards defined by the OECD and published in the Frascati manual. R&D is defined as ‘creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society and the use of the stock of knowledge to devise new applications’.
R&D performed in UK businesses refers to R&D performed in the UK within business enterprises. It excludes R&D funded by UK businesses that is performed overseas or in other sectors of the UK economy (such as higher education, government departments, agencies, non-dedepartmental public bodies, local authorities, and private non-profit organisations). Public corporations are counted as business enterprises.
Technical Data
Product Groups
Businesses allocate their Research and Development (R&D) activity against 61 product groups. ‘Services’ includes R&D consultancy and other services in support of manufacturing industry.
Employment
Employment is calculated by respondents on the basis of ‘full-time equivalent’ staff averaged over the year. The categories of employment used are: scientists and engineers, technicians and administrative and other supporting staff.
Revisions to earlier years
Data are revised for the two previous years to take account of company misreporting. One indication of the reliability of the key indicators in this release can be obtained by monitoring the size of revisions.
Sampling variability
Research and Development (R&D) takes place in only a small proportion of businesses and there is no comprehensive list of companies carrying out R&D. A simple random sample of the business population would not be suitable for an R&D inquiry because many of the sampled businesses would not undertake R&D, and many significant R&D performers would be missed in such a sample.
The population is approximately 30,000 companies identified as performing R&D on the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) by means of a filter question every other year on the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) Survey and through the UK Innovation Survey. The sample size comprises approximately 4,600 forms: 400 long and 4,200 short forms, and uses individual businesses as reporting units.
The stratification variable is the known level of R&D performance of the businesses. The long form requesting a full detailed breakdown of R&D activity, is despatched to those businesses, who in the previous year's survey inquiry, had returned or estimated an R&D expenditure figure of greater than £3 million, together with companies newly identified as very large R&D spenders.
Smaller known R&D spenders are sampled using various sampling fractions. The selected businesses are despatched a shorter version of the R&D questionnaire which requests only the R&D expenditure and employment totals. The detailed information for these companies is estimated by using the data received on the long forms.
The totals of un-sampled businesses are estimated using ratio estimation with company employment as the auxiliary variable. Around 450 of the largest R&D spenders are included in the sample and account for 80+ per cent of the total R&D expenditure figure. Estimates are made for the R&D activity of unsampled and non-responding businesses.
Response rates
The survey is statutory with a response rate of 80+ per cent typically achieved.
Coherence
Comparisons with DIUS R & D Scoreboard: The Scoreboard reports the R&D expenditure of the top 700 R&D performing UK based firms taken from company accounts. However, there are coverage differences between the Scoreboard and the BERD survey. The survey only covers UK based firms that are R&D performers within the UK (intramural R&D), and excludes those firms which only buy-in R&D from other firms, no matter where the R&D is performed, that is, within the UK or overseas (extramural R&D).
Statistics on Scientific Procedures
Statistics on scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain are collected by the Home Office and published annually from licensees under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, in accordance with section 21(7) of the Act.
The published data include information such as the numbers of procedures started, numbers of animals used, genetic status of animals used, primary purpose of the procedure, source of animals, target body system, type of procedure (‘Fundamental and applies studies other than toxicology’, or ‘Toxicity tests, or other safety of efficacy evaluation’), and type of legislative requirements relating to the procedures.
Glossary
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Basic research
Defined as work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge without a specific application in mind. Applied research is defined as work undertaken to acquire new knowledge with a specific application in mind. Experimental development is defined as work using the results from basic and/or applied research for the purpose of creating new or improved products/processes.
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Defence R&D
This is all R&D carried out primarily for defence or military reasons, even if civil use is made of it at a later date.
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Employment
Employment is calculated based on ‘Head-count’ and ‘Full time equivalents’. One full time equivalent (FTE) may be thought of as one person-year. For example, a person who normally spends 30 per cent of their time on R&D and the rest on other activities should be considered as 0.3 FTE. Similarly, if a full-time R&D worker is employed at an R&D unit for only six months, this results in the FTE of 0.5.
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Innovation
Innovation statistics include product (goods or services) and process innovation, innovation activities and investment, collaboration partners for innovation and sources of information used, barriers to innovation and types of Intellectual Property used to protect innovations. Innovation statistics are collected biennially from a postal sample survey of around 28,000 UK businesses with ten plus employees across manufacturing and service sectors.
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Research and Development (R&D)
R&D is characterised by investigation or experimentation, the outcome of which is new knowledge (with or without a specific practical application), enhanced materials, products, devices, processes or services.
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Researchers
Researchers are defined as employees engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, methods and systems, for example, PHD students, graduates and scientists. Technicians are defined as employees who perform scientific and technical tasks normally under the supervision of researchers. Others are defined as support staff including skilled and unskilled craftsmen, secretarial and clerical staff participating in R&D projects.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
Mark Pollard
Email: mark.pollard@ons.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1633 456769
Office for National Statistics Room 2.001 Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8XG
