§ 36. Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress in setting up the new research councils.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI am pleased to confirm to the House that the new research councils will come into being on 1 April this year, as planned.
§ Mr. CoombsI congratulate my right hon. Friend on the fact that the timetable for the reorganisation of the research councils set out in the White Paper last summer has been met. Are not congratulations also due to the staff of the research councils in my constituency who are enabling that to happen? Does my right hon. Friend agree that, as a result of the reorganisation of the structure of the research councils, the opportunity is now offered for encouragement and for a boost to industrial competitiveness through the work of the research councils in helping industry?
§ Mr. WaldegraveI agree with my hon. Friend and join him in paying warm tribute to the staff of the research councils who have enabled the timetable to be met and especially, although not only, to the staff of the former Science and Engineering Research Council out of which two completely new research councils have been formed. I believe that the policy and intention set out in the White Paper will now be achieved for the good of the country.
§ Dr. BrayWould not it be a poor start for the new research councils if, as a first step, some of their key 634 laboratories were taken from them and grouped under a civil research agency, which would remove them from application and from the science base?
§ Mr. WaldegraveAs the hon. Gentleman knows very well, there is a wide range of different research establishments and research stations belonging either to Departments or to research councils. From time to time, it is right to examine them across the board to ascertain the best form of ownership for them, but nothing will be done to damage the long-term commitment of the research councils to basic science.
§ Mr. David ShawWill my right hon. Friend comment on the fact that it is often believed that there is far too much pure research in this country and not enough emphasis on getting research products into the marketplace? What is being done to enable British products to be marketed around the world?
§ Mr. WaldegraveIt is essential to maintain Britain's contribution to basic science, but in the area of generic and strategic research where applications are in mind, my hon. Friend is entirely right; we should bring our academic base closer to industry. That is the whole purpose of the White Paper policy.