§ Miss Fookesasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's policy on the wider application of new and improved materials and processes in the light of his Department's review of its support for innovation scheme and the publication of the materials advisory group report.
§ Mr. PattieThe materials advisory group drew attention to the very important field of materials technology and identified within it areas of particular opportunity to a wide range of UK industries. This has made a major contribution to my Department's continuing assessment of research priorities. While I am unable to accept that progress in this field can only be made by the provision of additional Government funding on the scale suggested by the group, I consider that there is considerable scope for obtaining greater benefit from the already substantial amount of work in the materials field by the redirection and more efficient use of Government resources.
The Department will therefore be: re-orientating its existing resources towards materials work; seeking to improve awareness of new materials and to develop collaborative projects which will accelerate commercial application; collaborating more closely with the science and engineering research council to guide university research and promote technology transfer; working with the Ministry of Defence with a view to commercial exploitation of military materials developments; seeking the fullest UK participation in European Community and other international collaborative programmes; and working for improved specification standards where these offer opportunities for exploitation of new materials.
In the discussion which has been concluded in the European Community's research council on an extension of the Community's primary raw materials programme I particularly emphasised the importance which the UK attaches to the new section on advanced materials. In the four year research action programme on materials which we agreed, over 40 per cent. of the total budget of £40 million will be devoted to this section, thus providing a useful further stimulus to advanced materials work.