Committee of Inquiry into the Organisation of Civil Science (Report) (Hansard, 28 July 1964)

§ Mr. Hogg

Yes. As foreshadowed in the statement of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 6th February, it is proposed to implement the recommendations of the Report with some modification.

These changes will necessitate legislation which is now being prepared for introduction at an early opportunity. This legislation will include provision for the increased responsibilities of the Secretary of State.

Council for Scientific Policy

The present Advisory Council for Scientific Policy will be replaced by a body on the lines recommended by the Committee, to be called the Council for Scientific Policy. The Council will advise the Secretary of State in the formulation and execution of general scientific policy. Specifically, the Council will advise the Minister on national scientific needs as a whole, including the fostering of new growing points; on the broad allocation of resources; on scientific manpower; on international scientific policy; and on the administrative machinery for the promotion of scientific research. As recommended by the Committee, the Council 286W will consist entirely of independent members. Assessors appointed by interested bodies, including the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Aviation, the Atomic Energy Authority, the University Grants Committee and the Research Councils, will see the papers and attend by invitation. The Council will have its own staff and secretariat which will form part of the Department of Education and Science.

It is proposed to form three new bodies as follows:

(i) The Science Research Council. The Council will take over from D.S.I.R. the function of supporting scientific and technological research at universities through earmarked grants in fields other than those for which other Research Councils are responsible. It will also take over D.S.I.R.'s function of making training awards to postgraduate students in science and technology, other than those who are supported by the more specialised Research Councils. The Science Research Council will take over responsibility for the National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science and the Royal Observatories at Herstmonceux and Edinburgh. It will also assume responsibility for the scientific space programme and in particular the work of the Space Research Management Unit of the Department of Education and Science and the Radio Research Station of D.S.I.R. The Ministry of Aviation and the University Grants Committee will be represented on the Council by assessors.

(ii) The Natural Environment Research Council. This Council is to be formed, following the recommendation of the Committee on the Organisation of Research into Natural Resources and the Committee on the Organisation of Civil Science, to support research in the field of environmental sciences and natural resources. Specifically, the Council will support research in geophysics, geology, oceanography, fisheries, hydrology, forestry, terrestrial ecology and nature conservation. It will provide research grants to universities and make training awards to postgraduate students in these fields. The Council will assume responsibility for:

The Geological Survey and Museum.
The Soil Surveys.
The Nature Conservancy.
The Hydrology Research Unit and the Committee on Hydrological Research.

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The Council will finance and coordinate the work of these organisations. They will take over from the Navy Department and the Development Commission responsibility for supporting the National Institute of Oceanography. The Council will establish a Fisheries Advisory Committee on the same lines as the present Advisory Committee on Fishery Research of the Development Commission. On Hydrology the Council will maintain close contact with the Water Resources Board, who also have research functions. They will support research in geomagnetism and seismology undertaken by the Meteorological Office and they will be associated with its general programme of research. Under these arrangements the Council will be in a position to foster and co-ordinate the important group of studies associated with the planetary environment of earth, air and water.

(iii) The Industrial Research and Development Authority. An Industrial Research and Development Authority will be formed to continue and extend the work hitherto carried on by D.S.I.R. in relation to industrial research and development. It will carry out research in its own establishments; support cooperative industrial research associations; encourage and support advanced development work arising out of these activities and disseminate scientific and technical information to industry. In development contract work it will act in consultation with N.R.D.C. and use it as its agent when this is appropriate. It will not be concerned solely with applied research and development. It will be an important part of its functions to support basic research which may have important implications for industry. The Authority will consist of a full-time Chairman and part-time members from industry and the world of science and technology. It will also include representatives from N.R.D.C, the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Aviation and N.E.D.C.

The Authority will take over the responsibility for all D.S.I.R. stations except the Radio Research Station, the Geological Survey and Museum, and the Hydrology Research Unit, and as mentioned later, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. The future position 288W of the National Physical Laboratory is still under consideration. It is, however, intended that a close link with the Royal Society will be maintained.

There will be no change in the present functions of the Medical Research Council and the Agricultural Research Council.

Other Matters

The Department of Education and Science will assume responsibility for the National Lending Library for Science and Technology and for the Laboratory of the Government Chemist.

Important questions arise about the position of staff which will be transferred, under these proposals, to the Industrial Research and Development Authority and to the new Research Councils from D.S.I.R. and other organisations. These questions are under consideration. There will be full consultation with the appropriate staff organisations before decisions are taken on these matters.

As recommended by the Committee on the Organisation of Civil Science the Overseas Research Council will be dissolved. Its functions have now passed in the main to the Department of Technical Co-operation and its advisory bodies.

General

Under these measures of reorganisation, all the functions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will pass to the new research agencies referred to above, and to a minor extent, to the Department of Education and Science. They will thus bring to an end the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in its present form, and create a wider group of research organisations, operating under the general supervision of the responsible Minister, acting with appropriate advice. It will be necessary for the research agencies to work closely together in certain fields of scientific work and marginal adjustments in their functions may be necessary from time to time. It is the Government's intention that these arrangements should be kept under review, with the advice of the Council for Scientific Policy, in order to meet the needs of developments in science and technology. The Government are confident that these measures 289W of reorganisation, which are being undertaken after a full study of the whole field by the Committee on the Organisation of Civil Science, will provide both a substantial measure of autonomy for the Research Councils, and also the means of developing a coherent national scientific policy. In particular they believe that these measures will enable the distinguished work of D.S.I.R. over the past 50 years to be developed and extended on an expanding scale, and with increasingly rewarding results.