§ 55. Mrs. Hartasked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what new major research projects have been started within the Medical Research Council in the last five years; and by what number its staff has increased.
§ Mr. Denzil FreethIn the last five years the Medical Research Council has set up 27 research units and nine research groups, details of which have been given in the Council's Annual Reports. During this period the Council also decided to establish a Clinical Research Centre to be linked with the new district hospital to be built by the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board at Northwick Park, Harrow, and the detailed planning is now well in hand. The Council's total staff has increased from 2,213 in 1957–58 to 2,772 in 1961–62.
These totals do not include grant-holders or people working in the Council's Research Groups, who are generally members of staffs of universities or medical schools; nor do they include the staffs of institutions supported by block grants from the Council.
§ Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science how many new research projects have been the subject of application for grant from the Medical Research Council in each of the last six years; in how many cases a grant was made; and what were the annual sums involved.
§ Mr. Denzil Freeth
Year Number of Applications for New Research Projects Number of Awards Total expenditure of the Medical Research Council on current Grants £ 1956–57 … 152 134 171,292 1957–58 … 171 138 201,483 1958–59 … 153 134 211,695 1959–60 … 231 206 241,770 1960–61 … 273 236 326,749 1961–62 … 335 259 481,038 This table relates only to the Council's scheme of temporary research grants and does not take account of the support provided for medical research 167W through its research units, research groups, training awards, and grants for special departmental apparatus. The last column gives the Council's total expenditure in each year on current grants; to give the figures corresponding to new awards in each year would require further analysis of a very lengthy and complicated nature.
§ Mrs. Hartasked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science how much has been spent by the Medical Research Council in each of the last five years in
Year Expenditure (5)Percentage of Total Gross Recurrent Expenditure, including Special Departmental Apparatus (1) (2) (3) (4) Temporary Research Grants Special Departmental Apparatus Research Groups Total of (1) plus (2) plus (3) £ £ £ £ 1957–58 … … 201,483 — — 201,483 6.6 1958–59 … … 211,695 — — 211,695 6.3 1959–60 … … 241,770 — — 241,770 6.4 1960–61 … … 326,749 58,077 5,107 389,933 8.2 1961–62 … … 481,038 40,131 40,531 561,700 10.2 NOTE: The above Table excludes the Council's major expenditure which is undertaken in its own establishments many of which are housed within, or attached to, university departments. It also excludes special grants to institutions such as the Institute of Cancer Research.