Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total identifiable expenditure on research by his Department in each year since 1979; what proportion was awarded on a customer-contractor basis; and what proportion of his total departmental budget was expended on research for each year.
§ Mr. CopeThe information is as follows:
Year Expenditure on R and D (£ million) Percentage of Budget (per cent.) 1979–80 11.0 0.442 1980–81 14.5 0.503 1981–82 9.7 0.302 1982–83 9.4 0.267 1983–84 14.3 0.380 1984–85 11.5 0.287 1985–86 13.8 0.326 1986–87 17.0 0.381 1987–88 16.8 0.351 11988–89 19.4 0.359 1 (Provisional). With the exception of the science base, all Government R and D is now awarded on a customer-contractor basis. Disaggregation for the years 1983–84 onwards are published in the annual review of Government-funded R and D.