§ 3.59 p.m.
§ Mr. Austen Albu (Edmonton)I beg to move,
That this House, recognising that if the United Kingdom is to restore its balance of payments and maintain its leading position and influence in the competitive post-war world, and is to carry out effectively its plan for physical reconstruction, social betterment, and rearmament, there will have to be a great expansion of exports, particularly of those goods which require for their design and manufacture a high degree of research, technological development and scientific organisation of production; an extension of agricultural production and the development of raw material production within the Sterling Commonwealth together with a more rapid development of the use of home-produced synthetic, in place of imported, raw materials; as well as continued attention to efficiency in all fields of production, both agricultural and industrial at home and in the Colonies, hereby urges Her Majesty's Government to take all possible steps to accelerate the more intensive application of the results of research and scientific discovery; and for that purpose recommends that particular attention should be paid to the importance of ensuring, first, adequate and long-term arrangements for financing industrial and agricultural research, Whether by individual firms, research associations, Government establishments or other means and all consequential action necessary to ensure the fullest appreciation and application of the results of that research; secondly, the use of the capital investment programme to encourage more rapid and effective application of the results of scientific research in the agricultural, industrial and Colonial fields; with adjustments of taxation to assist small businesses engaged on work of scientific development; thirdly, the provision of the best possible scientific advice at high levels in connection with all policy decisions relating to capital investment, industrial re-organisation and controls concerned with the use of manpower and materials; and lastly, an increase both absolute and relative in the number of scientists and technologists in all industries and accordingly the most rapid possible expansion of the facilities for their education in the 2010 universities, technical colleges and other educational establishments by the provision of sufficient money and materials and by steps to improve the supply of science teachers for the schools.I wish to say that I move this Motion as one of the joint honorary secretaries of the Parliamentary Scientific Committee, and partly at their request. The Parliamentary Scientific Committee has been exercising itself very much on this matter of the application of scientific knowledge, not only to research and design, but also the problems of manufacture in industry, as well as in agriculture—