英国议员们警告称，英国在资助下一代科技公司时，并未确保纳税人能够分一杯羹。
Britain is funding the next generation of tech companies without making sure taxpayers get a slice of the action, MPs have warned.
在《国会山报》于发表前获得的一份新报告中，英国公共账目委员会（PAC）指责英国国家科研与创新署（UKRI）在保护纳税人利益方面过于谨慎。议员们希望英国国家科研与创新署不要仅仅发放拨款，而是考虑在其支持的更多企业中获取股权，从而让公众有机会在这些公司成功时兑现收益。
In a new report shared with The ahead of publication, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has accused UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) of being overly cautious about protecting taxpayers' interests. Rather than simply handing out grants, MPs want UKRI to consider taking equity stakes in more of the businesses it backs, giving the public a chance to cash in when those companies succeed.
根据英国科学、创新和技术部（DSIT）的数据，按每英镑研究经费计算，英国大学产生的衍生公司和专利数量超过了美国同行。但英国在从其发明中变现方面却不那么熟练。英国初创企业仍然难以吸引发展所需的投资，往往不得不迁往海外，而大学在开发其知识产权方面表现参差不齐。
According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK universities produce more spinouts and patents per pound of research funding than their US counterparts. But Britain is less adept at cashing in on its inventions. British startups still struggle to attract the investment needed to grow without moving overseas, while universities have a patchy record when it comes to exploiting their intellectual property.
与此同时，英国国家科研与创新署一直不愿对其资助的研究施加更严格的条件，并辩称这样做可能会阻碍公司发展。
UKRI, meanwhile, has been reluctant to impose tougher conditions on the research it funds, arguing that doing so could discourage companies from growing.
公共账目委员会表示：“这种方法过于谨慎，我们敦促该部门采取更多措施，在一家成功公司利用由纳税人通过英国国家科研与创新署出资的研究成果时，收回纳税人的资金。”
“This approach is far too cautious and we urge the Department to do much more to recover taxpayer's money when a successful company exploits research which the taxpayer, via UKRI, has paid for," the PAC said.
该委员会希望英国国家科研与创新署审查其标准的资助条款，包括是否应该在更多受益于公共资金的公司中获取股权。
It wants UKRI to review its standard funding terms, including whether it should take equity stakes in more companies benefiting from public money.
公共账目委员会主席杰弗里·克利夫顿-布朗爵士（Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown）承认，要求政府表现得更像一个风险投资家，对于一个通常致力于控制公共开支的委员会来说，似乎是一个奇怪的立场。
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the PAC, acknowledged that calling for the government to behave more like a venture capitalist might seem an odd position for a committee normally concerned with keeping public spending in check.
他表示：“关注本委员会工作的人可能会觉得，我们呼吁政府采取不大谨慎的方法直接参与英国创新是一个不寻常的举动。但我们是一个致力于为纳税人的钱争取价值的机构，而不是将其囤积起来。”
"It may strike followers of this Committee's work that our call for government to take a less cautious approach to taking a direct stake in British innovation is an unusual one," he said.
目前在全球科技竞赛中处于领先地位的国家，并非通过回避更具创业精神的政策才达到今天的位置。这对政府来说，是一个简单的道理：不冒险，就没有收获。”政府已做出一些努力，帮助英国科技公司。UKRI为人工智能初创公司提供免费使用纳税人资助的超级计算机，而DSIT已更改采购规则，让英国公司更有机会提供价值4亿英镑的专用人工智能芯片。
"But we are a body dedicated to value for taxpayers' money, not hoarding it. The nations currently leading the global tech race did not achieve their positions by avoiding more entrepreneurial policies. This is a simple case for the government of nothing ventured, nothing gained." The government has made some effort to help British tech firms.
英国商业银行也与养老金基金一起投资，让纳税人在一些获得支持的企业中拥有股份。但吸引更多养老金基金投资的努力，进度不及部长们所期望的那样快，议员们要求DSIT开始衡量其各项支持计划是否真的在帮助英国公司成长，而不仅仅是统计拨出了多少资金。还有，所有这些研究资金最终流向哪里的问题。尽管政府多年来承诺在全国更均匀地分散投资，但伦敦、东南部和英格兰东部仍继续获得UKRI一半的资金。
UKRI gives AI startups free access to taxpayer-funded supercomputers, while DSIT has changed its procurement rules to give UK companies a better shot at supplying £400 million worth of specialist AI chips. The British Business Bank is also investing alongside pension funds, giving taxpayers a stake in some of the businesses receiving support. But efforts to attract more pension fund investment have been slower than ministers hoped, and MPs want DSIT to start measuring whether its various support schemes are actually helping British companies grow, rather than simply counting how much money it hands out. There's also the question of where all that research funding ends up.
过去五年中，北部地区的份额已从12%提升至20%，但UKRI尚未设定具体的地区资金目标。克利夫顿-布朗将这种分化描述为“持续存在且不可接受”，并警告说，如果没有更有意识地分散资金的努力，进展很容易被逆转。而议员们希望UKRI在投资上更具冒险精神，但他们对其管理已有项目的方式则不甚满意。委员会指出，UKRI在一项空中实验室升级项目上花费了4900万英镑预算中的4600万英镑后将其放弃。在决定升级该飞机五年后，资金最终被取消，这促使议员质疑为何没有更早叫停。
London, the South East, and the East of England continue to receive half of UKRI's funding, despite years of government promises to spread investment more evenly across the country. The North's share has improved from 12 to 20 percent over the past five years, but UKRI has yet to set specific regional funding targets. Clifton-Brown described the divide as "continuing and unacceptable," warning that progress could easily be reversed without a more deliberate effort to spread the cash around. And while MPs want UKRI to be more adventurous with its investments, they're considerably less impressed with how it manages some of the projects already on its books. The committee pointed to an airborne laboratory upgrade that UKRI abandoned after spending £46 million of its £49 million budget.
此外，科学与技术设施委员会（Science and Technology Facilities Council）约45%的资产处于不可接受的状态，将大学拥有的研究基础设施恢复到全面运行状态，预计需要56亿英镑。公共账目委员会（PAC）还批评英国研究与创新署（UKRI）未能确保ARCHER2国家超级计算机的替代设备在现有机器关闭前投入使用，预计将出现13个月的空档期。看来，白厅已经掌握了在创新上花钱的艺术，但要收回资金则是另一回事。®
Funding was finally canceled five years after the decision to upgrade the aircraft, prompting MPs to question why the plug hadn't been pulled sooner. Elsewhere, around 45 percent of the Science and Technology Facilities Council's estate is in unacceptable condition, and restoring university-owned research infrastructure to full working order would cost an estimated £5.6 billion. The PAC also criticized UKRI for failing to ensure a replacement for the ARCHER2 national supercomputer would be ready before the existing machine shuts down, leaving an expected 13-month gap. It seems Whitehall has mastered the art of spending money on innovation, but getting any back is another matter. ®