§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much grant in 1998–99 was given by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to(a) the John Innes Centre and (b) the Sainsbury Laboratory. [73037]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 25 February 1999]DTI Ministers routinely respond to questions concerning the use of Science Budget money and the conduct of the Research Councils, but this Government, like their predecessors, support the Haldane principle that
day-to-day decisions on the scientific merits of different strategies, programmes and projects should be taken by the Research Councils, without Government involvement(Paragraph 3.23 of the 1993 White Paper, "Realising Our Potential: A Strategy for Science, Engineering and Technology").Accordingly, it is the BBSRC itself which decides the allocation of competitive strategic grant (CSG) to each of its eight Institutes, including the John limes Centre. The Institutes are also able to apply for certain categories of BBSRC research grants, in competition with other researchers and subject to the approval of the Council's peer review committees. The Council does not allocate CSG to the Sainsbury Laboratory. The Laboratory is administered by the University of East Anglia and its staff are University employees. They are eligible to apply for research grants in the same way as academics elsewhere.
449WThe table shows, for each year since 1996–297, the CSG approved by the Council for the John Innes Centre (including expenditure on equipment and minor works), and expenditure on research grants to the John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory respectively, as approved by the BBSRC's peer review committees.
Expenditure (£ millions) 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 John Innes Centre (a) CSG 10.19 10.25 10.50 (b) research grants 2.41 2.55 2.21 (c) total 12.60 12.80 12.71 Sainsbury Laboratory (research grants) 0.28 0.51 0.64