§ Mr. IngramTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the implications of the Budget statement for the OST. [7152]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe science budget—the funding available for distribution to the research councils, the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and a number of other small programmes—has been maintained at the planning level announced in November last year (£1,330 million) for 1997–98 and represents an increase of £18 million over the level for the current year. The planning figures are shown in the table:
Science budget £ million 1996–97 estimated outturn 1,312 1997–98 budget 1,330 1998–99 planning 1,338 1999–00 figures 1,333