§ Mr. Raymond Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what provision is made in institutions of higher education for the study of futures; and what assistance is being given by his Department to promote such studies;
510W(2) if he will seek a liaison between his Department and the United States institutions engaged on the study of futures, details of which have been sent to him, such as the Institute for the Future at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsOne of the purposes for which the Social Science Research Council's Committee on the Next 30 Years was set up in 1966 was to take stock of some of the problems likely to arise during the rest of this century, with a view to stimulating and, if necessary, supporting research. In the course of these studies the Council has established relationships with the United States Social Science Research Council, the Institute for the Future, in Washington, and other American centres.
A comparable study to those in the United States, called Plan Europe 2000, is being undertaken by the European Cultural Foundation, which is supported by the British National Committee for Cultural Co-operation in Europe. In addition much of the research in various subjects that is currently in progress in different institutions of higher education in this country involves some aspects of this problem but it is not possible to distinguish the separate amounts of expenditure concerned.