§ 12. Mr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase funding for science.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Mr. Alan Howarth)The size of the science budget for 1992–93 will be considered in the forthcoming public expenditure survey.
§ Mr. StrangDo the Government now appreciate that there is a science crisis? Does the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology confirm what scientists and Opposition Members have been saying for months? Surely the Minister is aware that decisions are being taken to halt research programmes, to disband research teams and to scrap expensive equipment and facilities. That will do real damage to Britain's science base unless the Government announce an additional allocation of funds to research councils for this year.
§ Mr. HowarthThe hon. Gentleman totally fails to do justice to the outstanding quality of British science, which is highly regarded internationally. We are committed to maintaining an internationally competitive research base through the higher education institutions and the research councils. We are considering the important and interesting report of the House of Lords Select Committee and shall respond to it formally in due course. I would only comment now that the noble Lords explicitly said that they would like the research councils to have flexible budgets
without recourse to invidious choices.It is tempting but illusory to suppose that life can be nothing but flexibility with no invidious choices.