Prospect's mixed welcome to science funding allocations

Prospect's mixed welcome to science funding allocations

Responding to the report into the allocation of the 2008-11 science budget, Prospect welcomed the role the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills will play in pulling together an overarching policy for public science.



But it warned that science funding by government departments as a percentage of GDP is in decline and that the planned allocation across the research councils will leave key areas of public sector science struggling.

On behalf of 68,000 scientists and engineers in the public and private sectors, Prospect head of research Sue Ferns said: "News that the DIUS plans to provide an overarching strategy to bind together the key agendas of science and innovation, higher education and skills is very welcome.

"For a long time our members have been calling for a Cabinet minister with central oversight for the health of the science base to stop the practice of patchwork funding and knee-jerk cuts that has been decimating UK science.

"The 19.8% overall increase in research council funding by 2011 looks like good news. But a detailed breakdown of how this will be allocated raises concerns that certain research councils fare far better than others - the Science and Technology Facilities Council is set for a real terms cut of 1.5%.

"The recognition of the need for stability in funding streams is also welcome and this must put an end to sudden mid-year cuts by departments such as those inflicted recently by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform."

Prospect also cautioned against the dominant emphasis on economic impact in deciding research priorities, warning that public sector science in the national interest is needed to underpin policy-making.

A recent report from the Institute of Ideas found the majority of scientists thought the government, research councils and academia were restricting academic research by focusing too much on economic and social outcomes, Sue Ferns pointed out.

The Sainsbury Review noted despite a steady increase in the amount of money spent by research councils, spending on R&D by civil departments is now lower than at the start of the decade.