FIRST SPECIAL REPORT
The Science and Technology Committee has agreed to the following
Special Report:
We have received the following letter from John Battle MP, the
Minister of State for Science, Energy and Industry, enclosing
the Government response to the Fourth Report from the Science
and Technology Committee, Session 1996-97, on the Research Council
System: Issues of the Future.
Letter to the Chairman from the Minister of State for
Science, Energy and Industry
I am writing to respond to the previous Committee's report: The
Research Council System: Issues for the Future.
The Government welcomes the report of the Science and Technology
Committee on the Research Council System. The report identified
a number of important issues, which will need to be addressed
in future by the Committee, the Government and the Research Councils.
The Government is committed to a strong Science and Engineering
Base and to the maintenance of its international position of excellence,
as an essential underpinning resource both to our national economic
future and to the quality of life. Research and development and
the exploitation of its results will provide the answer to many
of the problems faced by society: in health; in social issues;
and in the environment. The Research Councils have a crucial role
to play in that.
We agree with the Committee (paragraph 9 of the Report) that,
in general, the system for managing, reviewing and allocating
the Science Budget, introduced following the 1993 White Paper
Realising Our Potential, is now working well. This was
reflected in Margaret Beckett's announcement on 7 May that the
Office of Science and Technology would remain a separate organisational
entity within the Department of Trade and Industry; and that the
Director General of Research Councils (DGRC), Sir John Cadogan
FRS, would continue to report directly to the Cabinet Minister
for Science, particularly on the Science Budget.
As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announced by
the Chief Secretary on 11 June 1997, the Government is looking
at all aspects of spending, including that on science. The review
of the Science Budget is being led by the DGRC and will consider
how spending contributes to the Government's objectives; why the
money is being spent; whether the spending is necessary; what
it is achieving; how effective it is; and whether it is being
spent efficiently. In addition, the Chief Scientific Adviser,
Sir Robert May FRS, is looking at science spending across Government.
The Committee is right to identify the ability of the Science
Budget to fund major capital expenditure (paragraph 12 of the
Report) as a particular issue for the future. There are potential
requirements for the replacement of a number of major capital
facilities in the next decade, including one of the British Antarctic
Survey's vessels and the Synchrotron Radiation Source at CCLRC's
Daresbury laboratory. The Research Councils will continue to explore
very carefully the options for Public Finance Initiative and other
collaborative approaches. We shall be considering the issues as
part of the CSR.
The report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education,
chaired by Sir Ron Dearing, published on 23 July has made a number
of recommendations concerning the funding of university research.
The Government will be consulting the HE Funding Councils, the
Research Councils and other interested parties, and will be making
a policy statement in due course.
The Government agrees that close and constructive working relationships
are needed between Research Councils and Government Departments,
if maximum benefit is to be obtained for all parties and both
collaborative and customer/contractor relationships are to work
effectively. The Government also accepts that Departments should
keep Research Councils as well informed as possible of their future
research procurement plans and discuss longer term strategic aims
- and that Research Councils should equally keep relevant Departments
informed. This "good practice" should be reflected in
the concordats which Councils have been establishing with relevant
Departments and which are leading to improvements in communication.
Departments also have a responsibility to ensure, as far as possible,
that officials acting as policy "customers" for R&D
should be adequately trained for this role, with a broad understanding
of the research environment.
Government Departments commission research from the Science Base
(and the private sector) primarily to support their Departmental
policy, regulatory and procurement responsibilities. These responsibilities
necessarily change over time and require a re-ordering of Departmental
budgetary priorities. The Government accepts that such changes
in the level and focus of spending by Government Departments can
impact greatly on Research Council Institutes, and can lead to
costs for the Councils. This can then diminish the funding available
for research. These issues will be studied in the context of the
CSR.
18 October 1997
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