UK chip strategy roll out expected in March

News | February 27, 2023

By Peter Clarke

subsidy semiconductor Materials & processes

The UK government’s long-awaited semiconductor strategy is now expected to be rolled out by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March 2023.

While the European Union and the United States have announced multibillion-dollar manufacturing subsidy programs under their respective Chips Act, the UK has been slow to develop a strategy and has come under increasing criticism.

According to previous reports the UK semiconductor strategy with a budget of single-digit billions of pounds has already been rejected once by the Treasury as too expensive (see UK chip strategy will include taxpayer funding). This compares to the €43 billion spend outlined by the European Commission and the $52 billion chip manufacturing budget approved by the United States.

However, a reorganization of government ministries by PM Sunak may have moved responsibility to the newly-formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (see UK government restructures business, science and technology).

Industry frustration at the long wait has surfaced in a series of statements threatening to move UK businesses out of the country unless subsidy support is made available (see Pragmatic CEO tells UK government, support us or we leave and UK could lose wafer maker IQE over delayed chip strategy). There have also been open letters of protest about the delay in publishing to the government from industry bodies and a House of Commons committee.