HC Deb 16 June 1993 vol 226 cc604-6W
Dr. Moonie

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what research was commissioned by his office on the future supply of and demand for scientists and engineers qualified to PhD level prior to the publication of the White Paper, "Realising our Potential".

Mr. Waldegrave

A list of the research studies which informed the White Paper on the supply of scientific manpower is provided in section G of the bibliography.

Dr. Moonie

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to announce the membership and remit of the new co-ordinating committee for the science and engineering research base.

Mr. Waldegrave

In due course.

Dr. Moonie

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the component parts of the science and engineering base as defined in his recent White Paper, "Realising our Potential", and their level of funding in each year since 1979 in cash terms and at constant prices.

Mr. Waldegrave

The science and engineering base of the United Kingdom may be considered in terms of the research and postgraduate training capacity of:

  1. (a) Universities and colleges of higher education (HEIs),
  2. (b) Research councils and their institutes and units,
  3. (c) Research Council central facilities available to researchers,
  4. (d) Internationally-based Research Council-supported facilities available to researchers

Tables 1 and 2 provide information on the basic funding provided to the separate components of the science and engineering base from the science budget and the block grants from the higher education funding councils. It has been necessary to group items (b) and (c) in the tables as disaggregated data is not consistently available over the time period requested.

Universities and research councils also receive significant funding from other sources including charities, Government Departments, industry and the EC.

Table 1: Funding of the science and engineering base (£m)
Universities and HEIs:1 Research Councils, Institutes and central facilities:1 Research Council support for international facilities
Block funding2 Science Budget3 Science Budget3 Science Budget3
1979–80 4359.2 125.5 147.7 44.6
1980–81 4441.3 158.7 182.4 42.3
1981–82 4494.7 173.5 223.5 42.3
1982–83 4600.0 186.0 237.7 45.1
1983–84 4616.0 201.2 247.5 54.3
1984–85 563.5 217.4 257.5 59.5
1985–86 598.3 230.8 274.5 65.9
1986–87 655.0 246.4 282.8 73.8
1987–88 695.0 276.0 291.5 90.4
1988–89 754.9 292.8 317.5 93.8
1989–90 758.2 353.4 367.0 93.6
1990–91 788.7 402.7 400.4 100.7
1991–92 880.8 414.2 406.2 105.5
51992–93 895.9 519.5 426.9 107.7
51993–94 857.3 618.4 430.9 114.0
1Research Council Institutes and HEIs also receive fundingb from other sources including charities, EC, Government Departments and industry.
2Source: Annual Review of Government-funded Research and Development 1992.
Note that the resources assigned to research are based on an estimated split of universities' spending between research and other activities; the uncertainties inherent in this process mean that the figures can only be regarded as accurate to within ±10 per cent.
3Source: Annual accounts/Supply Estimates.
4Figures include humanities research—disaggregated data is not available prior to 1984–85 when £66.4 million was attributed to humanities research.
5Estimate.
Table 2: Funding of the science and engineering base at constant (1991–92) prices (£m)6
Universities and HEls:1 Research councils, institutes and central facilities:1 Research council supper for international facilities:
block funding2 science budget3 science budget3 science budget3
1979–80 4829.6 289.8 341.1 103.0
1980–81 4861.9 310.0 356.3 83.8
1981–82 4881.8 309.3 398.0 75.4
1982–83 4998.3 309.5 395.5 75.0
1983–84 4979.3 319.9 393.5 86.3
1984–85 852.5 328.9 389.6 90.0
1985–86 858.4 331.1 393.8 94.5
1986–87 909.7 342.2 392.8 102.5
1987–88 915.7 363.6 384.1 119.1
1988–89 927.4 359.7 390.0 115.2
1989–90 873.5 407.1 422.8 107.8
1990–91 840.9 429.3 426.9 107.4
1991–92 880.8 414.2 406.2 105.5
51992–93 865.6 501.9 412.5 104.1
51993–94 1806.5 581.7 405.4 107.2
1 Research Council Institutes and HEls also receive funding from other sources including charities, EC, Government departments and industry.
2 Source: Annual review of Government-funded research and development 1992.
Note that the resources assigned to research are based on an estimated split of universities' spending between research and other activities; the uncertainties inherent in this process means that the figures can only be regarded as accurate to within ±10 per cent.
3 Source: Annual accounts/supply estimates.
4 Figures include humanities research—disaggregated data is not available prior to 1984–85.
5 Estimate.
6 GDP deflators used are as follows:
Year Percentage
1979–80 43.3
1980–81 51.2
1981–82 56.1
1982–83 60.1
1983–84 62.9
1984–85 66.1
1985–86 69.7
1986–87 72.0
1987–88 75.9
1988–89 81.4
1989–90 86.8
1990–91 93.8
1991–92 100.0
1992–93 103.5
1993–94 106.3