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The committee voiced serious concerns about the health and sustainability of the discipline, and this is of concern to the Government. That is why the forthcoming review being carried out by NERC is extremely important. It will give us the data that we need for a stronger evidence base upon which to make future decisions. It will be led by an expert committee and the review will seek a better understanding of the responsibilities among the various UK institutions which cover taxonomy. The committee will examine which aspects of NERC’s four-year strategy will require new taxonomic knowledge and skills and will make recommendations on how these needs will be met. It will also look at the key issues in taxonomic research which could attract research council funding and which could make a fundamental contribution to both UK science and our society. It will be a thorough review. I hope that reassures the Committee about the Government’s commitment to sustaining systematic biology and taxonomy in this country. The review will include the recommendation of mechanisms for collaborative operations across departments and disciplines.

Following completion of the review, we will look again at whether there is a compelling case for there to be a lead department for this discipline. The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, asked how this would be delivered. I would point to the recent innovation of the creation of the new Science and Innovation Sub-Committee. My role as Science Minister and a seat in the Cabinet provide an opportunity for cross-departmental issues to be addressed and for decisions to be taken. That is the mechanism by which it will be done. At this point, I am unsure as to whether locating responsibility in a single department such as DIUS would be an appropriate solution. However, I am prepared to look at the matter again, based on the data which come out of the NERC review.

It is important to recognise, as Members of the Committee do, that DIUS does not have overall responsibility for particular areas of science. Funding

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specific activities in the research base through the science and research budget is the responsibility of the department. However, it is important to stress our belief in the crucial centrality of the Haldane principle—that decisions relating to funding are made by the scientific community—and the importance of the independence of the research council.

I noted that the committee regards the concerns around this underpinning infrastructure of the science of taxonomy to be of fundamental strategic importance. I accept that DIUS has a clear role in providing strategic guidance, and therefore I can see the argument that, where there are problems, this may be one of those areas where, in DIUS’s role as championing UK science and in my role as Science Minister, it is DIUS’s responsibility to take action.

In conclusion, I remind noble Lords that in the great majority of recommendations the Government and the committee are in agreement. We have accepted them in large part and are busy implanting them. We both want to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of this discipline internationally, and I am grateful for the committee’s assessment that, as the noble Lord, Lord Sutherland, described it, significant progress has been made. However, I take the point that over the 17-year period in which a number of reviews have taken place in this discipline, there are areas where, as the noble Lord said, we could do better.

Further work is now needed to establish the structures that will support that ambition, based on data which will be generated from the review. I am clear that, with continued prompting from this committee, we can expect further developments from the Government in this area.

I shall read Hansard to see whether there are any questions that noble Lords have raised this afternoon that I have not answered. In particular, I think that it would be useful for me to give a full description of the international collaborations that the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked for, both transatlantically and within Europe, and I shall ensure that that is done by the department.

6.32 pm

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood: I simply thank all those who have taken part. The quality of the debate demonstrates very well what a rare privilege it is to be chairman of such a committee and such a group in preparing this kind of report. Perhaps it is going too far to say that the expertise and interest around the table is matchless, but I can say for sure that they would be pretty hard to match.

I also thank the Minister for his sympathetic and informed reply. It was, dare I say, of the kind that we might hope for from a former member of the Select Committee. We appreciate his comments and will study them in Hansard.

The message is very clear: these disciplines are of fundamental importance for science, for the nation and for the Government. We have national strengths in these areas—talented people and outstanding collections—but both might be at risk if we do not take action on a systematic and long-term basis. We do not need a knee-jerk reaction.

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In conclusion, I do not know whether the Minister ever saw the film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” but in that film Butch and Sundance—Paul Newman and Robert Redford—were bank robbers fleeing the forces of law and order. I do not press the analogy too closely but they are fleeing the forces of law and order over desert and mountain. However, the forces of law and order continue to pursue them. At

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one point, they turn round and one says to the other, “Who are these guys?”. The answer in this case will clearly be Selborne, Walmsley, Soulsby, Krebs and May, who have already been at it for 17 years and will, I hope, be ably supported by those of us who are rather newer to the game.

Motion agreed.

Committee adjourned at 6.34 pm.

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