The Committee was nominated on 14 July 1997.

It had 11 Members and held 39 meetings.

Members	Meetings attended
Michael Clark, Dr (Chairman)	33
David Atkinson, Mr	21
Nigel Beard, Mr	37
Claire Curtis-Thomas, Mrs	14
Ian Gibson, Dr	37
Lynne Jones, Dr	35
Nigel Jones, Mr	30
Ashok Kumar, Dr	33
Jacqui Lait, Mrs (added, 22.6.98)	7
Caroline Spelman, Mrs (discharged, 22.6.98)	21
Desmond Turner, Dr	34
Alan W Williams, Dr	33

Overall attendance:   78.1 %

Number of Members added:  1

Number of Members discharged:  1

Turnover of membership during the Session:  9 %

Staff

Committee Clerk: Mrs J Mulley

Other Committee staff: Dr G Rickett, Specialist Assistant, Grade 8 (from October 1998); Mrs L M Nugent, Higher Executive Officer, Grade 10; Ms C Wilson, Secretary, Grade 13 (until 3 July 1998); Mrs J Kalogerides, Secretary, Grade 13 (from 1 October 1998).

Specialist Advisers during the Session

Mr Roger Baker, Professor Michael Brady, Professor Derek Burke, Professor Brian Clarkson, Dr Michael Elves, Mr John Ivinson, Sir David Harrison and Dr Geoffrey Robinson.

Witnesses

Oral evidence was given during the Session by the following categories of witnesses:

Number of appearances by:-

Cabinet Ministers:  1

Other Ministers:  5 (of whom 2 were Members of the House of Lords)

Number of appearances by officials from, or representatives of:-

The Office of Science and Technology:  7

other departments:  5

comprising:- Department for Education and Employment  2

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster  1

Department of Trade and Industry  2

executive agencies:  2

 comprising:- Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (an agency of the Ministry of Defence)  2

non-departmental public bodies:  14

 comprising:- The Medical Research Council  2

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council  1

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council  4

Health & Safety Executive (a Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions associated public body)  2

Higher Education Funding Council for England (a Department for Education and Employment associated public body)  3

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (a Welsh Office associated public body)  2

Appearances by other witnesses:  81

Overseas Visits

Date	Destination	Members	Staff	Purpose	Cost
22-27.6.98	USA	6	2	Scientific Advisory System, Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	£38,445 (estimate)
1-3.6.98	Portugal	3*	-	9th Eureka Conference	£3,405

* In a representative capacity

Visits to European Institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg

Date	Destination	Members	Staff	Purpose	Cost
22.7.98	European Commission, Brussels	8	2	Meetings with European Commission Officials	£3,415.26 (estimate)

UK Visits

Date	Destination	Members	Staff	Purpose	Cost
22.5.98	Cambridge	7	3	Evidence from the Generics Group	£310.40
10.6.98	Oxford	3	3*	Oxford Trust and Oxford Instruments	£228

* Includes 1 specialist adviser.

Reports and Minutes of Evidence  

Title	HC No. (1997-98)	Date of publication	No. of pages	Sale price	Government   reply
First Report: The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research	303-I	2.4.98	55	£9.70	Received 12.6.98: published as Third Special Report, Session 1997-98
Minutes of Evidence with Appendices: The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research	303-II	2.4.98	334	£20.50	Not applicable
Second Report: The Year 2000 - Computer Compliance	342-I	7.4.98	42	£8.80	Cm 3944, 20.7.98
Minutes of Evidence with Appendices: The Year 2000 - Computer Compliance	342-II	7.4.98	247	£20.50	Not applicable
Third Report: Glaxo Wellcome and Smithkline Beecham: The Merger Proposals	627	16.6.98	46	£8.80	Not required
Fourth Report: The Cloning of Animal from Adult Cells	1039	4.8.98	11	£3.70	Not required
Fifth Report: British Biotech	888-I	17.8.98	12	£3.70	Reply awaited
Fifth Report: British Biotech: Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence	888-II	13.10.98	13	£4.30	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: British Biotech	888-i	14.9.98	148	£17.00	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: British Biotech	888-ii	14.9.98	173	£6.20	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: British Biotech	888-iii	14.9.98	197	£6.20	Not applicable
First Special Report: The Government's Response to the Committee's Fourth Report, Session 1996-97, The Research Council System: Issues for the Future	302	11.12.97	3	£1.45	Not required
Second Special Report: The Government's Response to the Committee's Third Report, Session 1996-97, The Natural Environment Research Council and Research into Climate Change	306	11.12.97	7	£2.25	Not required
Third Special Report: The Government's Response to the Committee's First Report, Session 1997-98, The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research	799	30.6.97	12	£3.40	Not required
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-i	1.5.98	17	£4.75	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-ii	5.6.98	29	£4.00	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-iii	8.6.98	47	£4.75	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-iv	26.6.98	74	£6.20	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-v	3.7.98	85	£4.00	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	626-vi	13.7.98	95	£3.40	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Scientific Advisory System	796-i	31.7.98	47	£9.70	Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Science and the Comprehensive Spending Review	1040-i	13.10.98	14	£4.00	Not applicable

Divisions

None.

Debates

The following Report was referred to on the Order Paper as being relevant to a debate in the House:

First Report, 1997-98, The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research, was the subject of debate on an Estimates Day, under Standing Order No. 54, 14.7.98  

Evidence

Oral evidence was taken at 27 of the Committee's 39 meetings. On none of these occasions was evidence taken partly or wholly in private. The Committee received 280 memoranda, of which 18 came from Government departments, 1 from an executive agency and 19 from associated public bodies. The Committee published 159 memoranda.

Inquiry	No. of oral evidence sessions	No. of memoranda received	No. of memoranda received from Government departments /executive agencies/ associated public bodies	No. of memoranda published	No. of memoranda made available in the Record Office for public use and placed in the Library
The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research	6	52	4/0/15	51	21
The Year 2000 - Computer Compliance	6	82	6/0/2	72	16
Engineering and Physical Sciences Based Innovation	7	69	3/1/2	9	0
Glaxo Wellcome and Smithkline Beecham: the Merger Proposals	2	6	0/0/0	6	6
Scientific Advisory System	1	43	1/0/0	1	0
The Cloning of Animals from Adult Cells	0	1	1/0/0	1
British Biotech	3	21	0/0/0	16
Science and the Comprehensive Spending Review	2	3	2/0/0	3
Other		3	1/0/0
Total	27	280	18/1/19	159	43