House of Commons - Science and Technology

Select Committee on Science and Technology First Report

3 STRATEGY AND MISSION

10. ESRC launched a consultation on its future priorities in Spring 2004, inviting responses from universities, learned societies, Government Departments, organizations in the private, public and voluntary sectors and other key stakeholders. The responses to the consultation are now being considered and final decisions on strategic plans will be taken at ESRC's council meeting in April 2005. The Science Budget allocations are expected to be made in March 2005, raising the question of how ESRC is co-ordinating its decisions on strategic priorities with its bid for the Spending Review. Professor Diamond told us in oral evidence that the timing had been "seamlessly" planned: "The choice of timing is so that we can work very much with the OST timing and be able to respond very quickly".[15] Since the Science Budget allocations are unexpectedly late this year—normally they have been made by late autumn—and ESRC must have planned its timetable for the stakeholder consultation well in advance, we find this claim surprising. It is important that ESRC co-ordinates major strategic decisions with its Spending Review bid.

11. The evidence received was generally supportive of ESRC's new approach to developing strategic priorities and particularly praised the level of consultation with the research community. The Political Studies Association said: "We would like to commend the ESRC for the attention it has given under its current leadership to developing relations with professional associations […] In particular, we consider that there has been extensive consultation about the ESRC's new strategic framework and priorities for 2004-5".[16] The Development Studies Association (DSA) also told us: "The four new organising dimensions of 'capacity, research, engagement and performance' appear to offer a more realistic and balanced view of the key elements that the ESRC must pay attention to in pursuit of their objectives. The DSA particularly welcomes the explicit recognition of the capacity dimension of the ESRC's responsibility and the ways that this is now being thought through in the ESRC".[17] The Association did, however, note that "there remains some work to clarify the ways in which the broader academic community will continue to be involved in the decisions over research priorities".[18] The positive feedback from the social science community about the way in which ESRC conducted the consultation on its new strategic framework is a credit to the Council. ESRC needs to build on this good work by continuing to engage with its community in its forward planning.

Relationship with Government

CONCORDATS WITH DEPARTMENTS

12. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is atypical of the Research Councils in the number of Government Departments that it collaborates with. Some, but not all, of these interactions take the form of a Concordat between ESRC and the particular Department. ESRC's current Concordat partners are listed below; the absence of a Concordat with the Department for International Development is discussed in paragraph 19.

ESRC Concordats

Cabinet Office
Department for Education and Skills
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department of Health
Department of Trade and Industry
Department for Transport
Department for Work and Pensions
HM Treasury
Home Office
Northern Ireland Executive
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Scottish Executive
Welsh Assembly Government

Source: ESRC

13. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) told us that it had established a Concordat with ESRC in 1993 in response to "the commitment in the SET White Paper 1993—'Realising our Potential'—stating that the Department and the Research Councils should have Concordats in place to put their co-operation on an institutional footing and ensure regular contact".[19] DTI said that this arrangement had "been of real practical value to policy makers and the DTI is keen to build on this relationship".[20] However, it appears that the commitment involved in the Concordat is minimal: "The ESRC-DTI Concordat binds the two parties to an annual meeting to explore each other's activities and identify potential areas for collaboration".[21] Joint DTI-ESRC activities have included "lunchtime seminars that provided valuable discussion platforms on programmes which affect industry and the consumer, and are of interest across the Department".[22]

14. Other Concordats involve significant investment of funds by the Government Department. ESRC told us that "Joint funding is an increasingly regular feature of the Concordats and is routinely discussed", and noted that "joint studentships between the ESRC and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the ESRC and the Welsh Assembly Government are funded equally". [23]^,[24] ESRC also commented that in some cases, such as the Concordat with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Concordats "have been sought by a government department which has heard of the benefits of a formal collaborative agreement from other departments".[25] DWP remarked on the fact that "Over the last year, with the appointment of its new Chairman [Professor Diamond], the ESRC has become more outward looking and DWP officials have found a much greater willingness to engage with government concerns than previously".[26] DWP told us that it was examining with ESRC "the possibilities for developing opportunities for:

secondments between academics and government researchers;
for 50:50 funding for postgraduate studentships to work on projects guided by DWP longer term research needs; and

short term placements for postgraduate students."[27]

15. ESRC also told us that it had noted increasing "interest in ongoing professional development opportunities for government research staff", as well as "an increased desire [on the part of Government Departments] for regular interaction with academic social science researchers".[28] It is encouraging that ESRC is building strong relationships with a wide range of Government Departments. We believe that this interaction should strengthen the quality of policy making in these Departments. We nevertheless urge ESRC to exercise caution to ensure that its work programme does not become overly focussed on meeting Government priorities at the expense of giving researchers with strong proposals the freedom to pursue issues that they believe are important.

EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY MAKING

16. We were curious to know whether the appointment of Departmental Chief Scientific Advisers (CSAs) had had a discernible impact on the use of social science by Government Departments. ESRC told us that it had "observed a greater demand for its research in the past five years" but although CSAs had "encouraged a positive approach to the benefits of social science", the increased demand was more likely attributable "to standards set by government for transparent decision making and the use of evidence in policy formulation".[29] We also asked whether ESRC had undertaken any assessments of the extent to which Government policy was based on evidence, especially in view of the fact that it sponsors a network on evidence-based policy making.[30] Professor Diamond told us that it was not something that ESRC had done to date but said it was "a very interesting idea and […] one that I guarantee we will consider".[31] In view of ESRC's interest in, and the Government's stated commitment to, evidence-based policy making, we believe that there would be significant merit in ESRC conducting periodic appraisals of the extent to which specific Government policies in areas within ESRC's remit are based on sound evidence. This would remind Government of its commitment to evidence-based policy making and would also be a useful indicator of the relevance and value of ESRC-sponsored research.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES

17. Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are being given an increasingly important role in regional policy development but in our Report on Government investment in nanotechnology in 2004 we commented on the "patchy nature of scientific expertise in RDAs".[32] In addition, witnesses to the 2003 inquiry by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee into science and the RDAs expressed concerns about their lack of scientific and innovation based expertise, and that Committee called for RDAs to review their capabilities in that area.[33] ESRC told us that "Formal arrangements with Regional Development Agencies are not yet as developed as with Government departments and the Devolved Administrations", although it was "increasingly interacting with RDAs".[34] ESRC also stated that it was holding a joint conference with the Association of Regional Observatories on regional policy which had attracted more than 180 participants from regional bodies, and that this was indicative of a strong demand for research in this area.[35] As discussed in paragraph 15, ESRC has to be prudent in directing its limited funds and needs to guard against skewing its research priorities too far in favour of central or regional Government policy. However, we encourage ESRC to ensure that research of relevance is disseminated widely to the Regional Development Agencies and advise Regional Development Agencies to make more use of ESRC expertise in planning and conducting research to underpin policy making. The development of the new ESRC "Information Centre" described in paragraph 70 could assist in this process.

International agenda

18. ESRC submitted evidence to the Committee's inquiry into the use of science in UK international development policy justifying the fact that it sponsored Research Centres with an international development focus:

"The scope of the social sciences is international. They transcend national boundaries and nation states in their methods and subjects of enquiry, and in the knowledge which they produce. The Council strongly believes that research in the social sciences flourishes in an open and internationalist perspective. Given increasing awareness of processes of globalisation, it is apparent that in social, economic and political terms the wellbeing of developed and developing countries are increasingly interdependent."[

ESRC also emphasised to us in oral evidence to this inquiry that consultation with research-intensive businesses in the UK had identified a demand for greater research on "understanding the international markets and globalisation", which was partly responsible for the increased focus on an international agenda.[37]

19. The Development Studies Association told us that "In past years the ESRC has been prone to being rather narrow in its focus on the UK and near-Europe. This has meant that it has been difficult to get funding for social science that is more global in scope, or was focused on the social science issues and challenges of other parts of the world".[38] It is noteworthy that ESRC is now taking steps to rectify the fact that it does not have a Concordat with the Department for International Development, although the lack of a Concordat reflects on the Department as much as on ESRC. The Development Studies Association also indicated that ESRC was now changing, praising the "more internationalist perspective that is embedded in the new strategic framework" and the "efforts by the ESRC to establish a clearer and more systematic link with DFID [Department for International Development]".[39] In our Report, The Use of Science in UK International Development Policy, we stated that "UK Research Councils can play an important role in funding research for international development and consider that such research is highly likely to deliver additional, incidental benefits for the UK".[40] ESRC has a remit to fund a broad portfolio of research and to support UK researchers in carrying out work of world standing and relevance. We therefore welcome ESRC's increasing willingness to fund social science of global rather than just European significance.

15 Q 28 Back

16 Ev 34 Back

17 Ev 36 Back

18 As above Back

19 Ev 16 Back

20 As above Back

21 Ev 16 Back

22 Ev 16 Back

23 Ev 39 Back

24 Ev 39 Back

25 Ev 39 Back

26 Ev 33 Back