HL Deb 07 March 1989 vol 504 c1468WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is their intention to spend some of the recently announced science budget on ocean research, and if so how the sums proposed compare with the requirements identified by a committee of this House (2nd Report of the Select Committee on Science and Technology, Session 1985–86, HL 47) and other relevant expert bodies as being required if Britain's maritime scientific capabilities are to be revived.

Viscount Davidson

Science budget allocations for 1989–90 to 1991–92 will enable the NERC to spend additional funds in marine science on a new oceanographic centre (£17.7m) and programmes in the North Sea (£3.2m) and on biogeochemical ocean fluxes (£5.9m). The Government response to the Select Committee stated that it did not consider a case had been made for an across-the-board increase for marine R&D at the expense of other fields.