Upcoming spending review has UK scientists concerned over funding future

Nature : On 25 November, the new Conservative majority in the UK parliament will announce its first spending review, which has a stated goal of reducing overall government expenditures by £20 billion ($30 billion) by 2020. The threat of a flat or cut budget has researchers in the UK worried. The last spending review in 2010 held the science budget steady at £4.6 billion per year for five years, but significantly cut the science infrastructure budget. Nicola Blackwood, the Conservative member of parliament who heads the House of Commons committee on science and technology, has said that the government needs a road map to raise investment in science from 2% to 3% of GDP, but it is unclear if the new budget will provide any support for that goal. Two additional areas of concern in the UK research community are a proposal to close the Higher Education Funding Council for England and a possible reorganization of the seven UK research councils.