Business Secretary Greg Clark has recently announced a £300 million competitive fund as part of the government’s plan to build a ‘Britain fit for the future’.
With an aim to further innovation, the investment forms part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund; combined with the research expertise, the objective is to develop both industries and technologies to help the UK prepare for an ageing population.
Acknowledging that over 10 million people in the UK are likely to reach their 100th birthday, the government highlighted a growing demand for new services, housing models and products to meet the needs of this changing population.
Setting out to meet these demands, the allocation of funding will see the government invest over £300 million; £98 million with go towards a ‘healthy ageing programme’ whilst the remaining £210 million will be for a ‘data to early diagnosis and precision medicine programme’.
Commenting on the investment was Greg Clark. The Business Secretary stated:
“Through our Industrial Strategy we will not only boost innovation and productivity across the UK, but we will also ensure that this government changes people’s lives for the better.
“We are investing over £300 million into developing the treatments of the future, in new technologies that will revolutionise the way we age and provide everyone with the best possible chance to grow old with dignity in their own home.
“By 2020 we want to be the best country in the world for dementia care and research and today’s announcement of £40 million for the Dementia Research Institute is a vitally important step on that journey.”
Also commenting on the announcement was the Minister of State for Care, Caroline Dineage. She stated: “As a society, we are living longer – a child born today can expect to live to 100 years – but now we must seize the opportunity to improve the quality of lives lived longer. With an increasingly ageing population, we must transform the way we think about our work, our housing, our health, our finances and our communities.
“These investments will not only help in our aims to make this the best country in the world to live with dementia but provide a revolutionary vital boost to develop and scale up products and services of the future, ensuring everyone can age well and live more independently throughout their lives.”
