§ Mr. Nicholas BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish figures for the number of British scientists leaving to work abroad.
Mr. JacksonThere are no figures from official sources, but a recent sample of universities, research council institutes and Government and industrial research laboratories, carried out by the Royal Society and the Fellowship of Engineering, showed that in five major fields of science there were 931 emigrants from the United Kingdom over the period 1975–85. Over the same period there were 685 immigrants, including 183 returning Britons. For members of university research groups the emigration rate averaged about 2 per cent. annually. For staff from industry, Government and research establishments the rate was 0.5 per cent. or less.