Balancing the scales when it comes to the Government’s R&D consultation

Covid-19 will remain with us for some time yet but it seems that the end is finally in sight for the lockdown restrictions that have caused so much disruption over the last 12 months. The country is preparing to enter ‘recovery mode’. ‘Recovery’ means different things to different businesses. But for businesses oriented towards growth decades of research have shown that investment in research and development (R&D) is a tried and tested way to kickstart expansion once again.

To protect and encourage this vital private sector investment in R&D we need an R&D tax relief system that can help put the nation’s businesses back on the path to innovation and growth. But what we have right now is a system that has seen two decades of tinkering – resulting in complexity and uncertainty for those seeking to access funding.

It is also a system that currently...