§ 2.43 p.m.
§ Lord Winston asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ How many applicants were there for Medical Research Council PhD studentships in each of the past five years and how many studentships were awarded.
§ Baroness Miller of HendonMy Lords, the number of Medical Research Council PhD studentships awarded in the past five years are as follows: 393 in 1990–91; 318 in 1991–92; 367 in 1992–93; 388 in 1993–94 and 433 in 1994–95. The MRC does not routinely collect data on the applications for studentships, as student selection procedure is the responsibility of the universities, with the overall quality criteria being agreed with the MRC.
§ Lord WinstonMy Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her reply. While I am pleased that overall the MRC has increased its studentships by about 10 per cent. in a five-year period, are not Her Majesty's Government rather concerned, in view of the diminishing number of PhD studentships offered by the Wellcome Trust and the pharmaceutical industry, and as a result of the severe cuts in university funding, that there may not be a severe diminution of our scientific base in due course? I would also like to remind the noble Baroness—
§ Lord WinstonIs the noble Baroness aware that the national stipend for a PhD studentship under the MRC is only £6,700, or thereabouts, compared with over £11,000 for a Wellcome Trust studentship? Does the Minister agree that that is a further cause of serious concern for our scientific base in the future?
§ Baroness Miller of HendonMy Lords, as I pointed out in my first reply, the past few years have seen a substantial increase in the number of PhDs funded by the MRC, well above the levels of the 1970s and 1980s. As regards the second part of the noble Lord's question about stipends, no. Every research council is responsible for setting the stipends at levels which will ensure that there is an adequate supply of quality students. In fact, the research councils' stipends are now at the highest level since 1966. The MRC's stipends are higher than those of the other councils.
§ Baroness RawlingsMy Lords, has any national lottery money been allocated for medical research and what is the likelihood of any future allocations?
§ Baroness Miller of HendonMy Lords, in all the national lottery grant programmes, every application is considered on its merits and is judged against the published criteria. Within the healthcare category some money was awarded to medical research; for example, £201,800 was awarded for cancer research in Glasgow. The next grant round, which is due to begin in the spring 734 of 1996, will have, as its priority, health, disability and care issues. The Association of Medical Research Charities has already welcomed that.
§ Lord PestonMy Lords, I was lost in all the numbers that the noble Baroness read out, so she will forgive me if I misunderstood them. Did she say that the MRC does not know how many people have applied or that it just does not tell us? Given that the country is getting richer and that healthcare is expanding, it is perfectly reasonable that the numbers of studentships should increase. Are they going up relative to those who would like to do research?
§ Baroness Miller of HendonMy Lords, I refer the noble Lord to the first Answer. The MRC itself does not collect the data because that is done by the universities themselves. They are responsible for student selection, with the overall quality criteria being a matter for the MRC.
§ Lord PestonMy Lords, so that I and other noble Lords are not totally misled, will she confirm that the answer is that we do not know how many people want to do research in this field? Is that the simple answer? Let me ask a second question. Does the noble Baroness agree that we ought to know how many are applying?
§ Baroness Miller of HendonMy Lords, that is a matter between the Medical Research Council and the universities.