HC Deb 15 January 1990 vol 165 c9W
Sir Trevor Skeet

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science from which Department's Votes it is intended to fund CERN.

Mr. Jackson

The United Kingdom subscription to CERN is borne on Class XI, Vote 5, subhead B2 of the Department's Estimates; this subhead covers the international subscriptions of the science and engineering research council.

Sir Trevor Skeet

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the United Kingdom's contribution to CERN in 1989–90 and 1990–91; what percentage of the total is attributable to the devaluation of sterling; and what administrative economies have been introduced by the secretariat.

Mr. Jackson

Estimates provision for the United Kingdom's contribution payments to CERN during the United Kingdom financial year 1989–90 is £48.897 million; Estimates for the United Kingdom financial year 1990–91 have yet to be presented to Parliament.

Under the revised contribution system recently introduced by CERN, the annual contribution of individual member states can be affected by a number of year-on-year variables. These include changes in the relative GNP of all member states each of which is re-assessed each year, movements in international exchange rates against the Swiss franc, and the annual rate of inflation in Switzerland, which is the host nation. The total sum payable in any particular year cannot readily be disaggregated to identify those elements attributable to each of these and other factors.

Following the report of the CERN review group, the CERN management has undertaken a continuing programme of implementation for the report's recommendations aimed at securing more efficient and cost-effective management. These include a phased reduction of 500 (some 15 per cent.) in the number of staff employed by the organisation, improved budgetary and financial control arrangements, improved project control systems, and the development of a revised system of personnel management suited to the organisation's future needs.