§ 61. Ms. MowlamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration he has given to the proposal by the chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council that funding of basic science should be a fixed proportion of gross domestic product, with the proportion to be reviewed every four years.
Mr. JacksonWe have noted the proposal in Professor Mitchell's recent lecture. The possibility of a link between part or all of the science budget and the growth of GDP was also suggested in the ABRC's discussion document, "A Strategy for the Science Base." We are currently considering the ABRC's recommendations and the comments on them which we have received from the higher education and scientific communities. My right hon. Friend expects to make a statement later in the year on the Government's policy objectives for the science base and the steps we will be taking to achieve them.