Definitions of R & D : report with evidence.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. Science and Technology Committee.
Date:
1990
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Definitions of R & D : report with evidence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    94/148 (page 92)
    MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 92 SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SUB-COMMITTEE Il) 8 February 1990] [Continued Letter from the Paymaster General (£. Caithness) to Lord Shackleton Following the oral question in the House of Lords on 5th December (annexed) I thought I should write to you about the matter you raised concerning the figures of total UK expenditure on research and development (R&D) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This may relate to a misunderstanding which the Society of British Aerospace Contractors (SBAC) appears to have had when they issued their press notice last year regarding the basis on which UK statistics of total expenditure on R&D are compiled. The SBAC had concluded that the MoD’s figures on the funding of R&D was not reliable on the basis of a study amongst aerospace defence manufacturers and that this meant that the UK figures for expenditure on R&D was unreliable. There are two points here. First that differences in definition in how R&D funding is measured make industry/MoD comparisons very difficult. Secondly figures on funding and expenditure are quite separate (the former being the input into R&D the latter the actual costs) and while these should balance there are great difficulties, not least on differences in definitions, in trying to reconcile the figures. UK statistics of expenditure on R&D are compiled in accordance with agreed international practice by combining the expenditure of the sectors performing (rather than funding) the R&D on the basis of returns made to the Central Statistical Office from the performers of R&D in government and industry including the MoD. The SBAC’s conclusion that the figures on UK expenditure on R&D are unreliable was therefore incorrect. , I hope that this clarifies the situation. THE EARL OF CAITHNESS EXTRACT FROM H.L. DEBATES, 5 DECEMBER 1989, c. 737. R&D: Survey Date Lord Dormand of Easington asked Her Majesty’s Government: When they intend to conduct their next survey of the research and development carried out by British industry. The Paymaster General (The Earl of Caithness); My Lords, the next survey of scientific research and development performed by UK industry relates to 1989 and will be carried out during 1990. Lord Dormand of Easington: My Lords, will the Minister confirm that that is the normal full survey which is carried out every four years by the Government? If so, will the Government consider publishing a full, separate report on the findings? What action are the Government proposing to take on government-funded R&D and that undertaken by private industry in view of two factors? The first is that the amount of R&D has been falling steadily for a number of years now. The second is that we are so behind in research and development in comparison with our overseas competitors. The Earl of Caithness: My Lords, I can confirm to the House that it will be a fully detailed survey. It will be a benchmark survey covering all enterprises with 200 or more employees. That is one which is carried out every four years. I am not sure where the noble Lord has obtained the figures for the assertion that he has made. But on total expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP, we are in the middle of a group consisting of France, West Germany, Italy, Japan and USA. Lord Shackleton: My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that there are grave doubts about the reliability of the total R&D national figure in particular in relation to the Ministry of Defence? The Select Committee on Science and Technology will shortly be producing a report on R&D and we need to know these figures. The Earl of Caithness: My Lords, I was not aware of the point that the noble Lord has made. However, I hope that from information provided by the Committee, and that which I shall be able to give him once I return to my office, the noble Lord will have all the data that he needs.