Local Innovation Partnerships Fund

The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF) is a £500m UK Government innovation-funding programme running from 2026 to 2031, covering 17 English regions, established as part of the £86bn R&D settlement in the 2025 Spending Review. On 1 June 2026, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced that direct control of LIPF allocations will devolve to seven city-region mayors following the 2027 Spending Review, a structural shift from Whitehall-directed to place-based innovation funding. The first allocation of £23.7m went to the University of Liverpool.

The LIPF represents a policy break from previous UK innovation funds, which were largely administered centrally by UKRI or DSIT. The devolution of control to metro mayors acknowledges that regional economic development requires local knowledge of labour markets, research institutions and industrial clusters. The seven mayors involved include those of Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and other combined authorities. The fund runs in parallel with UKRI's core research budgets and the Innovate UK grant programmes.

The LIPF's structure matters for UK spinout geography. Historically, venture-backed spinouts cluster heavily in the Golden Triangle (London, Oxford, Cambridge), partly because R&D funding follows research concentration. A regionally administered fund with place-based accountability is designed to redirect investment to Northern and Midlands universities, with the Liverpool allocation providing the first proof-of-concept. Whether devolution accelerates regional spinout formation, or simply funds more academic research without commercialisation pathways, is the policy question the 2027 Spending Review will need to answer.