§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he proposes to take action on the report of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils on academic research equipment; what representations he has received on the report and from whom; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonMy right hon. Friend has received a number of representations from hon. Members and a petition organised jointly by the publication "Laboratory News", the Association of University Teachers and the British Laboratory Ware Association. My right hon. Friend announced on 15 November at columns272–76 that an additional £61 million would be made available for the science budget in 1990–91, together with planning additions for the next two years of £58 million and £59 million. He announced the allocations to the five research councils on 10 January, Official Report columns 623–24. It is for the research councils to determine how to spend the additional funds made available to them. However, in their advice to the Secretary of State on the allocations, the Advisory Board for the Research Councils advised that a high proportion of these funds should be directed to preserving the quality of United Kingdom science. The ABRC also suggested that the research councils should deploy some of these additional funds to increase equipment provision through research grants, and that funding of new research programmes and interdisciplinary research centres would also include some provision for equipment.