Memorandum submitted by the Director General
of Research Councils, Dr John Taylor, following the evidence session
of 19 December
FUNDING OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY AND THE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
BACKGROUND
1. The Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry, the Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, the Minister for Science
& Innovation, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, and the Director
General of Research Councils (DGRC), Dr John Taylor gave evidence
to the Committee at its session on 19 December 2001. During that
session, Dr John Taylor, DGRC, was invited to provide a memorandum
on the Government's funding of the Royal Society and the Royal
Academy of Engineering. The request was set out in more detail
in a letter from the clerk to the Committee on 7 January and this
memorandum provides a response to the points made in that letter.
OST'S RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE
RS AND THE
RAENG
2. The Office of Science and Technology—and
the Department of Trade and Industry more widely—enjoys
a strong relationship with the Royal Society (RS) and the Royal
Academy of Engineering (RAEng). Both bodies, by virtue of their
position as the UK's academies of science and engineering respectively
and their international standing, are key contributors to the
development—and delivery—of UK public policy across
a range of science and engineering issues.
3. Underpinning this relationship with Government
is the support these bodies receive from Government in the form
of Parliamentary Grant-in-Aid from the Science Budget, which is
administered by the Office of Science and Technology. In the present
financial year, 2001-02, the RS's Grant-in-Aid amounts to £25.9
million and the RAEng's to a little over £4.3 million. Collectively
these sums amount to 1.7 per cent of the Science Budget this year.
4. Grant-in-aid is paid to support a range
of specific programmes carried out by each body. In making Grant-in-Aid
payments to these bodies, therefore, Government is procuring specific
aspects of its wider programme of support for basic and strategic
research and of maintaining and improving the health and vitality
of the UK's science and engineering base.
5. Central to the activities supported
by Grant-in-Aid are the range of programmes run by both bodies
to secure that the very best research talent is harnessed and
retained for the United Kingdom's Science & Engineering Base.
This human capital investment is an essential adjunct to the physical
capital investment which Government makes in science research
infrastructure. Years of underinvestment in the latter led to
the so-called brain drain as the best scientists and engineers
were not attracted to research, left it disillusioned, or were
enticed by better conditions to carry out their research in other
countries. Now that the years of neglect for university science
research infrastructure are being addressed with substantial new
funding through the Science Budget and the Funding Councils, the
task of the RS and the RAEng in playing their part in human capital
investment to reverse the brain drain becomes more crucial than
ever.
6. While this is an area which the Research
Councils also address (especially the Medical Research Council),
the RS and RAEng are uniquely well placed to make a significant
contribution across the whole of science and engineering. The
high profile of their fellowships gives them a strong brand in
UK science and engineering and a major presence on the world stage.
7. In some cases this will involve funding
for the brightest young talents and those with the greatest promise
to give them a secure career footing and to help ensure that they
stay in research in the UK SEB. This is an increasingly important
issue as the knowledge economy increases our long-term dependence
on research and at the same time creates an increasing pool of
highly paid jobs for the best people in business and industry.
Other schemes involve identifying the best talent from across
the world and bringing it to the UK.
8. The main programmes supported by the
Government's Grant-in-Aid to the RS and the RAEng respectively
are set out in annexes A and B, which include figures summarising
for 2001-02 how the Grant-in-Aid is broken down by programme.
9. The level of Grant-in-Aid to be made
available to the RS and the RAEng is decided following each spending
review by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the
basis of advice from the DGRC and the Science Minister, as part
of the same process as is used for the Research Councils. That
advice is informed by submissions commissioned and received by
OST at the start of the spending review. These submissions are
discussed in some detail with the body concerned as part of the
process of determining DTI's overall input to the spending review.
10. Following the spending review, once
the Science Budget global totals are known, the DGRC and the Minister
for Science advise the Secretary of State on how the Science Budget
should be allocated. As part of the allocations process, the RS
and RAEng Grants-in-Aid are tensioned against other Science Budget
activities, principally the Research Councils' Grant-in-Aid. Thus
the level of support given to the RS and the RAEng is set in the
context of the funding of the Science & Engineering Base more
generally.
11. Once the allocations process is complete,
the Director General of Research Councils writes to the Presidents
of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering to inform
them of their bodies' Grant-in-Aid for the following three years.
The letter specifies the main purposes to which the funding—including
any increase in funding—is to be put, but is not absolutely
prescriptive as to how the Grant-in-Aid should be divided up among
the various schemes we wish to support. We believe that it is
right and proper for matters of detail to be decided by the bodies
themselves.
12. Our funding relationship with the bodies
is governed in each case by a Financial Memorandum which sets
out the basis of the financial and administrative relationship
which exists between us. The Executive Secretary of each body
is appointed as an Accounting Officer by the DTI Accounting Officer
and is personally accountable to the DTI Accounting Officer and
to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee for issues of
regularity, propriety and value for money in respect of the Grant-in-Aid.
The uses to which the Grant-in-Aid are put are open to investigation
in the normal way by the National Audit Office, who have a right
of access to each of the two bodies. The accounts of the Royal
Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering are subject to external
audit by registered auditors. The Royal Society accounts are prepared
under the provisions of the requirements for charities and include
a report by the auditors to the DTI regarding the use of the Grant-in-Aid.
A similar framework applies to the Royal Academy of Engineering.
13. OST officials meet the Executive Secretaries
and other members of staff of each body approximately quarterly
to review progress in respect of Grant-in-Aid funded programmes
and to discuss other matters of common interest. These discussions
enable OST to take a realistic view of the RS and RAEng spending
proposals in the spending review process described above.
14. Apart from the Grant-in-Aid which is
paid directly from the Science Budget, some further small sums
of money are paid to the RS and the RAEng by the Research Councils.
The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
contributes between £25,000-£40,000 per year to the
RAEng towards Fellowships, Conferences, and Research Programmes.
EPSRC also pays a further £200,000 per year towards Industrial
Fellowships awarded by the Royal Society. The Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) pays £50,000
per year for the same purpose.
15. The Committee asked specifically about
Government funding for other learned societies (for example through
peppercorn rent of premises). No such funding is made available
directly through the Science Budget. EPSRC makes small sums available
annually to the Institute of Physics (c£65,000) and the Royal
Society of Chemistry (c£10,000)
for workshops, summer schools, and conferences. The Department
of Trade and Industry gives around £6,000 per year to the
Engineering Council as an Industrial Affiliate. It has also funded
the start-up costs of the Engineering and Technology Board, which
is replacing the Engineering Council, and expects to contribute
to appropriate projects. It does not fund any of the engineering
institutions.
16. We understand that several learned societies
operate from Burlington House, which is owned by the Department
of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The Royal Academy
is also located at Burlington House where it enjoys a peppercorn
rent.
FUNDING FOR
ADVICE TO
GOVERNMENT
17. The Committee asked about the funding
for one-off inquiries such as the current Royal Society inquiry
on Infectious Diseases in Livestock. Such inquiries are not budgeted
for in the Grant-in-aid provided by the Government, unless they
are known about at the time that the Grant-in-Aid is set. In the
present case, the Government has agreed with the Royal Society
that the resources required for a thorough inquiry are likely
to be significant and has therefore agreed a one-off increase
in Grant-in-aid of £125,000 as a contribution to the costs,
with a matching contribution from DEFRA. In cases where the work
undertaken is not unduly resource intensive, we would normally
expect the bodies to fund their inquiries from within their existing
resources.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES
18. The Government's response to the Third
Report of Session 2000-01 on Scientific Advice on Climate Change
was sent to the Committee on 7 January. On the recommendation
at paragraph 20, the response indicates that a national committee
on the science of climate change would be inappropriate given
the scope and authority of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. There is however a role for national bodies to advise
national Governments on mitigation and adaptation policies. Such
bodies must of course have the necessary scientific expertise.
There are however already enough such bodies, and a new one would
offer little value.
19. As to whether jointly established Government-Royal
Society advisory bodies would in general be a good idea, we do
not consider that there is much potential to add value to the
synergies which can already be exploited under existing arrangements.
It is, of course, good practice to consult widely with bodies
such as the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering
on matters which are of concern to their membership. We also consider
that their own expert groups, on for example renewable energy
and carbon sinks, are a very valuable source of independent advice
to Government. It is important to preserve the independence of
both the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering so
that they can provide in-depth, unsolicited advice and opinion.
CONCLUSION
20. The Government enjoys a strong relationship
with the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. There
is every reason to expect these relationships to deepen further
as the Government will continue to look to these bodies to support
key aspects of its strategy of improving further the health and
vitality of the Science and Engineering Base, especially in the
area of the supply of the highest calibre people. As science and
engineering play a larger and larger part in all our lives, Government
will need to rely increasingly on the high-quality and independent
technical advice that these bodies can provide across the whole
range of science and engineering.
25 January 2002
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