Commenting on the allocations, Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said: "Our world class science and research base is a key national asset, critical to promoting economic growth and to improving all our lives. Despite the considerable pressure on public spending we have delivered stable funding. A ring-fence around science and research programmes - including for the first time HEFCE research funding - will provide stability and certainty.

"We have taken the decision to delay some capital investment to maximise investment in research projects and people actually doing research. This enables us to continue to support researchers pushing the boundaries of knowledge across all disciplines, while also ensuring Research Councils, HEFCE, the UK Space Agency and National Academies are able to plan effectively their future investment in facilities and key projects.

"This is a strong settlement which demonstrates the importance the Coalition Government places on science and research."

The allocations will provide funding for:

the new UK Space Agency - to put it on a firm footing to develop space infrastructure, products and services;
exciting new research such as;
MRC: pilot new approaches to treatment of traumatic injuries in military and civilian settings
British Academy: supporting rigorous, quantitative methods in the humanities and social sciences
New Cross-Council programme on Global Food Security
The Government intends to announce during 2011 the allocation of funding to a small number of further projects on the 2010 Large Facilities Roadmap.