Volume 1

The impact of spending cuts on science and scientific research : sixth report of session 2009-10.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Date:
2010
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The impact of spending cuts on science and scientific research : sixth report of session 2009-10. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2007-08 on account of exchange rate fluctuations, and has been the source of considerable difficulties, which we consider in detail below.” 12. Higher education institutions in England are funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). During our oral evidence session on 10 February, Professor Adrian Smith, Director General for Science and Research, noted that there was a “slight danger in thinking of the higher education pot and the science and research pot under [...] separate headings”.”° A significant proportion—half by Professor Smith’s estimation—of the monies disbursed to the research councils ends up in the universities, so when considering cuts to science and higher education, the two are not necessarily competing against each other. In its Accounts for 2008-09, the BBSRC noted that £260 million of its expenditure of £465 million went into universities.” 13. That science and higher education may not be competing with each other is not, however, necessarily good news. There are several reasons why efficiency savings to higher education might very well take a disproportionate toll on science in the UK. The relationship may not be interdependent, but since much science takes place within higher education, any cuts to higher education funding have the potential to impact upon science as well. Science departments are comparatively expensive to run and, in times of economic stringency, are attractive targets for Vice-Chancellors looking to cut costs. CSR 2010 14. The current comprehensive spending review (CSR 2007) expires in the financial year 2010-11. Funding beyond March 2011 is therefore contingent upon a new Budget and CSR, both of which will involve political judgments regarding the importance of science to the UK. The combination of £600 million-worth of as-yet unallocated cuts, the current economic climate, and the anticipated next CSR, there is considerable uncertainty amongst scientists regarding future funding.’ The Minister for Science and Innovation (Rt Hon Lord Drayson) confirmed that “I recognise that that uncertainty is real”.”” On the same day as our first evidence session on 3 February, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published its “Green Budget’ for 2010.*° It estimated that cuts to public spending in the region of 10.9% would be needed in the four years from 2011, if the Government kept its commitment to protecting the NHS, education and overseas aid. The IFS predicts that: Cuts in spending on science and universities are likely to have important long-term consequences. They would lead not only to direct falls in innovative outputs, but also to indirect falls to the extent that the UK would become a less desirable place for firms to conduct research. If the government’s aim is ‘to strengthen the incentives to invest in innovative industries and ensure the UK remains an attractive location for innovation’, as was stated in the PBR, then the revenue loss expected from the patent 25 As above, p 99 26 Q241 27 Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council, Annual Report and Accounts 2008-09, HC 587, p 59 28 Q115 [Professor Thorpe] 29 Q246 é 30 Institute for Fiscal Studies, The IFS Green Budget: February 2010, 3 February 2010