The government's plans to boost British science could fail unless ministers revise their approach to innovation, the TUC has said.

In a joint report with the Work Foundation, the Trades Union Congress said the government is failing to recognise the need to develop relationships at a local level.

With ministers planning to spend £1.25 billion on science over the next three years in a bid to boost economic competitiveness, the report's author's warn that the government has only gone "some way" towards correcting misconceptions about research and development.

The report, entitled "Networking know-how", says Britain should learn from countries such as the US and Germany and adopt a policy of regional networks to assist technology transfers.

It says that while the quality of science in the UK is high, "we are failing to capitalise on our scientific capacity by turning development in...the laboratories into innovations in products".

"Current government policy has gone some way towards correcting the historic misconception that investment in R and D leads directly to higher productivity, but it hasn't managed to plug the gap between scientific invention and entrepreneurial application," said Rebecca Harding, the Work Foundation's chief economist

"We need widespread recognition that the relationship between our scientists, universities and businesses is a complex one that has to be conducted at a regional level if it is to be successful."

The report notes that in the US, where productivity is 45 per cent higher than the UK, state and federal funding grants are available for long-term assistance, with university-industry research centres acting as public-private partnerships providing a crucial interface at local level.

A similar system of national and local support operates in Germany, where the rate at which the old East Germany is catching up with the rest of the country indicates the effectiveness of regional innovation systems.

TUC general secretary, John Monks, said Britain needs to learn from the experiences of other countries.

"We cannot import wholesale a system from abroad, but we do need to be looking to the rest of Europe and the States for successful regional networks," he said.

"England's Regional Development Agencies and the UK's devolved institutions look perfectly placed to be the hub of technology transfer networks."

The report argues that regional "one stop shops" for help with patent searches or venture capital funding can work effectively.

It warns there is "still a lack of clarity and coordination in the UK technology transfer system".