§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what Government funds have been allocated to laser photochemistry in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BrookeGovernment funds for the support of laser photochemistry are channelled through the dual support system. The University Grants Committee provides basic laboratory facilities, and may support some research in laser photochemistry, through the allocation of funds to individual universities. Two "new blood" lectureships have been funded by the UGC in this area. The Science and Engineering Research Council provides support for specific research projects by means of research grants and the operation of central facilities. There is no specific allocation of resources to laser photochemistry: applications for funds are judged on their merits through the peer review process. In the 1983–84 academic year the council committed £390,000 to the support of experiments in laser photochemistry carried out in universities and £210,000 to the support of experiments which will be carried out using 459W the lasers at the council's ultra violet radiation facility at its Rutherford Appleton laboratory. That part of the costs of operating the UVRF which is attributable to experiments in laser photochemistry currently averages £70,000 per annum. Thus the council's annual commitment to research in laser photochemistry is currently about £670,000 per annum.