Several of the United Kingdom's national laboratories, which house large scientific equipment and expert teams, are facing substantial budget cuts despite the government allocating record overall funding to science. These cuts primarily affect the operational budgets for scientific work, leading to concerns about the future of critical research infrastructure.
The funding for the scientific work conducted at these government-owned sites is projected to fall by more than half. While the total budget for national labs and their estates will see a smaller overall reduction, this is largely due to an increasing portion being allocated to urgent repairs for aging facilities.
Sue Ferns of the Prospect Trade Union, which represents scientific and technical staff at the affected labs, described the situation as a "hammer blow to UK science." She emphasized that these cuts are a "political choice" and highlighted the role of public sector research facilities like those at Harwell, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and Daresbury. These institutions, she noted, serve as catalysts for regional business ecosystems and provide training and job opportunities.
Specific reductions have been detailed for several key facilities. At Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, the Accelerator Science and Technology Centre, responsible for designing and building particle beam machines, will experience an £8 million annual budget cut by 2029. The Scientific Computing Department, which splits its operations between Daresbury and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell, processes approximately a quarter of the data generated by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Its budget is set to decrease by £10 million annually, resulting in reduced access to computing power.
The Boulby Underground Laboratory, located deep within a mine on the North Yorkshire coast and dedicated to experiments searching for dark matter, will see its budget reduced by 40%. Despite these cuts, the UK will maintain its participation in international dark matter hunting projects and continue as the second-largest contributor to CERN, with its subscription increasing by 19% over four years.
A significant portion of the savings will also impact the government's multidisciplinary research facilities, which support researchers across the UK in fundamental scientific inquiry. These facilities are slated for a budget reduction of around 15%. To mitigate the immediate impact, they will receive transition funding from a £100 million pot, intended to provide time for these facilities to secure commercial sources of income.
Among the facilities in Oxfordshire facing cuts are the Diamond Light Source, a large-scale facility producing extremely bright X-rays for material science research. Its beam time could be cut by up to one-fifth, jeopardizing a planned upgrade. The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, used to study materials at a molecular level, will operate for fewer hours, with some instruments and its muon experiments being shut down. The Central Laser Facility, home to powerful lasers used in various scientific fields, will see a portion supporting biology and chemistry research closed.