OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH (Hansard, 22 June 1965)

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION AND SCIENCE (LORD BOWDEN)
My Lords, Her Majesty's Government are quite satisfied in this respect. The membership of the Council includes Professor M. J. Lighthill, Sir Edward Bullard, Professor J. E. Harris and Dr. C. M. Yonge, all of whom are distinguished scientists who have made important contributions to various aspects of oceanography or related fields of science, and have served on the National Oceanographic Council. The terms of reference of the Council are fully adequate to enable it to continue and 457 advance the national effort in scientific oceanography, in home waters and overseas, and the fact that there will now be one source of funds for basic oceanographic research will be conducive to this end.

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his reply.

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ LORD BOWDEN
My Lords, the Ministry of Defence will have an assessor on the Natural Environment Research Council and will also be represented on the Committee of the Council responsible for oceanography.

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, in view of the close connection between the military and civilian aspects of oceanographic research, can the noble Lord tell me why the Minister of Defence is not represented on the Council itself, not only in respect of oceanography, but in respect of many of the other sciences with which the Council will be concerned, and which have an important military application?

§ LORD BOWDEN
My Lords, the Minister of Defence is represented on the Council. He has representatives in the form of assessors. The purely formal distinction between a member and an assessor is unimportant, but is apparently desirable because of the professional standing of the man who is there. The Minister is, indeed, anxious to co-operate in the future, as he has in the past, and the Royal Navy's representatives on the Committee are determined that their Service's interest will be as strongly pursued as it has ever been when the Admiralty have administered the National Institute of Oceanography. But it is obvious, as the noble Earl said, that there must be a close participation between the Navy and any research into oceanography, 458 and, as I think has been announced in another place this last year, the Navy spent £590,000 on oceanographic research of one kind or another. The amount they are spending is increasing quite quickly; their interest is obviously great, and I hope that the co-operation will be as fruitful as it can possibly be. It is certainly our hope and intention that it will be.

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, I am grateful for the supplementary answers the noble Lord has given me. Is he aware (I am referring now to both Questions) that there is a general feeling among those most knowledgeable in this subject in this country, among whom I include myself, that oceanographic research comes far too low in our scale of national research priorities? Can I take it from the noble Lord's answers that it is the Government's intention to do everything in their power to give that research higher priority, both in the civilian and in the defence fields.

§ LORD BOWDEN
My Lords, the priorities for research programmes of various kinds are to be assessed by the Council of N.E.R.C., which has yet to consider the matter—I believe it is to do so on the 30th of this month. But certainly within the limits of its resources and the advice it gets from its Research Councils it is the Government's intention to do what they can. On the last occasion that I answered a supplementary question on them I said, because I am convinced that it is true, that oceanography is entering on its golden age, and I am sure that this is one field, at least, in which this country can play a proper part. There may be some fields of research from which we are excluded because our resources do not come up to the demand, but this is one field in which we should and can play a great part; because, after all, our living depends on our succeeding.

EARL JELLICOE
My Lords, I should like to associate myself with what the noble Lord has just said. Do I take it that it would be in accordance with the noble Lord's wishes if I put down either an Unstarred Question or a Motion which would give this House a further chance of discussing this important matter at greater length?

§ LORD BOWDEN
Yes, indeed.