The Government has launched a multi-million pound fund as part of a drive to attract the world's top scientists to this country. The move is part of a five-year industrial plan called Creating Wealth from Knowledge aimed at boosting science, innovation and technology as well as improving workers' skills. It proposes to boost spending on research and development from its current level of 1.9 per cent of national income to 2.5 per year by 2014 and deliver greater departmental focus on R&D. The Government also pledged to cut red tape by more than £1 billion over five years and limit the introduction of new domestic regulations to two dates per year. Business particularly welcomed the pledge to cut regulation. Digby Jones, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said: "This is an encouraging plan, which shows that the DTI means business when it comes to championing business. "It is particularly encouraging to see what looks like a serious, measurable attempt to reduce the burden of regulation." But British Chambers of Commerce director-general David Frost warned: "The pledge to cut regulation by £1 billion is impossible to calculate and the lack of detail is disappointing. "Businesses are sinking every day under the £30 billion burden the Government has added since 1998. Why should they have to wait even longer for something to be done?" Welcoming the 2.5 per cent target for investment in research and development, Mr Frost nevertheless said the "sketchy" details of how it would be achieved made the goal "unrealistic". There was "no substantial evidence in this plan to suggest that we will be able to overtake our leading competitors" such as the US and other EU states, he said. The plan also aims to help an extra 20,000 companies in the next five years by boosting the Manufacturing Advisory Service. The proposals were backed by Prime Minister Tony Blair who said Britain could become the world capital of science. Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said a "step change" in innovation was needed throughout the UK economy as well as workplaces. "We are sending a strong signal to scientists around the world that the UK is the place to come to carry out research in leading edge areas such as nanotechnology and stem cell research," she added. The minister acknowledged that a new industrial policy needed a DTI which was more flexible and "smarter" and she predicted that over the next five years it would become more like a department for technology and innovation. She said: "Our new industrial policy needs a new DTI. We reject the command-and-control approach of the 1970s and the laissez-faire attitude of the 1980s. "Instead, we will be more flexible, and smarter - a DTI that knows when to help markets, and when to let business lead." So-called Newton Awards were launched involving a new multi-million pound fund for research projects. A leading business figure will be appointed to help deal with barriers preventing innovations being adopted in the public sector and spending on research and development will increase. The DTI said it wanted to work with employers to raise skill levels, particularly among younger workers. The Prime Minister said Britain could lead the way in controversial stem cell research and he warned animal rights extremists that they would not be allowed to stand in the way of progress. "Our ambition is for the UK to become the science capital of the world," he said. "Our science is already world class but I believe we can be the best." Mr Blair will argue that Britain has a strong base to build on with the science budget by 2007 doubled since Labour came to power in 1997. | 
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