HC Deb 16 March 1989 vol 149 cc290-1W
Mr. Bermingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the membership of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Jackson

The present members of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils are:

  • Professor Sir David Phillips KBE FRS (Chairman)—Professor of Molecular Biophysics, University of Oxford.
  • Professor E. Ash CBE FRS FEng—Rector, Imperial College, University of London.
  • Professor R. L. Bell CB—Director-General of ADAS, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
  • Professor Margaret Boden FBA—Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, University of Sussex.
  • Dr. R. F. Coleman—Chief Engineer and Scientist, Department of Trade and Industry.
  • Sir Roger Elliott FRS—Secretary to the Delegates and Chief Executive, Oxford University Press.
  • Mr. J. Fairclough FEng—Chief Scientific Adviser, Cabinet Office.
  • Dr. D. J. Fisk—Chief Scientist, Department of the Environment.
  • Mr. J. S. Flemming—Executive Director, Bank of England.
  • Professor J. L. Knill—Chairman, Natural Environment Research Council.
  • Professor June Lloyd FRCP—Professor, Institute of Child Health, University of London.
  • Professor E. W. J. Mitchell CBE FRS—Chairman, Science and Engineering Research Council.
  • Mr. J. R. S. Morris CBE FEng (Deputy Chairman)—Chairman, Brown and Root (UK) Ltd.
  • Professor H. Newby—Chairman, Economic and Social Research Council.
  • Professor Sir Richard Norman FRS—Scientific Adviser, Department of Energy.
  • Professor E. R. Oxburgh, FRS—Chief Scientific Adviser, Ministry of Defence.
  • Profesor R. W. O'Grady, CBE—Chief Scientist, Department of Health.
  • Sir Charles Reece—formerly Research and Technology Director, ICI.
  • Dr. D. A. Rees, FRS—Secretary, Medical Research Council.
  • Dr. N. J. Shackleton, FRS—Director of Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge.
  • Sir David Smith, FRS—Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Edinburgh.
  • Professor W. D. P. Stewart, DSc, FRSE, FRS—Secretary, Agricultural and Food Research Council.
  • Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, KBE, FRS—Chairman, University Grants Committee.
  • Sir Francis Tombs, FEng—Chairman, Rolls-Royce Ltd.; Chairman, ACOST.
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  • Mr. J. M. M. Vereker—Department of Education and Science (Assessor).
  • Mr. D. A. Wilkinson—Department of Education and Science (Assessor).

The advisory board was established by the Secretary of State for Education and Science in 1972. It has the following terms of reference:—

  1. (a) To advise the Secretary of State on his responsibilities for civil science with particular reference to the research council system, its articulation with the universities and departments, the support of postgraduate students and the proper balance between international and national scientific activity;
  2. (b) To advise the Secretary of State on the allocation of the Science Budget among the research councils and other bodies, taking into account funds paid to them by customer departments and the purposes to which such funds are devoted;
  3. (c) To promote close liaison between councils and the users of their research.

Mr. Bermingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the remit of the committee of the advisory board for the research councils investigating the funding of the biological sciences in Britain has been extended to include a review of the research councils themselves; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Jackson

The Advisory Board for the Research Councils announced the following terms of reference for its review of research councils' responsibilities for biological sciences, on 22 June 1988:

  1. 1. To review the disposition between Research Councils of responsibilities for research and training in the biological sciences and present arrangements for co-ordination.
  2. 2. To recommend any changes, in the present disposition of responsibilities and co-ordinating arrangements, that are needed to improve efficiency and effectiveness—taking account of national needs, trends in the biological sciences, and implications for Councils' responsibilities in related fields.

I understand that these have not been changed.