§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will list in the Official Report the science budget for each year since 1971 (a) as a fraction of gross domestic product and (b) in real terms using (i) the retail prices index and (ii) the inflation factor used by the Department of Trade and Industry as appropriate for research and development in each case, to the latest available date.
§ Mr. BrookeThe table shows the information requested:
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Column 1 Science Budget Column 2 Science Budget as a fraction of gross domestic product Column 3 Science Budget in real terms using retail price Index* Column 4 Science Budget in real terms using DTI R & D Index† Year £m £m £m 1983–84 516.3 0.00169 542.0 516.3 1984–85 549.9 0.00169 549.9 N/A 1985–86¶ 583.9 N/A N/A N/A * Based on average 1984–85 prices † Based on average 1983–84 prices ‡ 1973–74 £12m (cash) was transferred from the Science Budget to Government Departments under the Rothschild arrangements for commissioned research. ║ 1981–82 £14m (cash) transferred back to Science Budget from Health Departments to Medical Research Council ¶ RPI and DTI R & D indices not available beyond 1984–85, nor figure for total GDP