HC Deb 22 December 1981 vol 15 c399W
Mr. Lawrence

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he is making of the work of the Social Science Research Council.

Sir Keith Joseph

At my invitation Lord Rothschild has agreed to conduct urgently an independent review of the scale and nature of the council's work, both in research and postgraduate training, having regard to the principles he enunciated in his report "The Organisation and Management of Government R and D", published in Cmnd. 4814; and in particular to advise me

  1. i. Which areas, if any, of the SSRC's work should he done at the expense of the ultimate customer rather that the Exchequer;
  2. ii. Which areas, rightly supported by the Exchequer, could he done at least as well and as economically by other bodies, who would receive payment from the public purse either on a once-and-for-all or recurrent basis. The bodies concerned should he identified; and
  3. iii. Which areas, if any, at present supported by the Exchequer through other bodies could better be covered by the SSRC.

I have asked him to have regard to other sources of support for work in the council's field, and to cognate fields of work supported elsewhere.