HC Deb 03 March 1997 vol 291 c482W
Dr. Strang

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many scientists were employed by(a) the Agriculture and Food Research Council and (b) the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council in each year from 1979 to the present. [17655]

Mr. Ian Taylor

[holding answer 27 February 1997]: Science budget money freed up by institute restructuring will have been recycled for research purposes, either in institutes or universities where there has been significant growth in the number of researchers.

The figures—staff in post—are shown in the table.

Number of scientists employed in AFRC/BBSRC institutes— 1979 to 1996
Year Number of scientists
AFRC
1979 3,417
1980 3,360
1981 3,298
1982 3,371
1983 3,316
1984 3,326
1985 3,002
1986 2,997
1987 2,797
1988 2,726
1989 2,649
1990 2,588
1991 2,158
1992 2,190
1993 2,151
BBSRC
1994 2,043
1995 1,979
1996 2,003