HC Deb 16 January 1995 vol 252 cc328-9W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his letter of 14 October 1994 to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what progress the Director General of Research Councils has made in his examination of the balance of effort expended by the research councils between the initial selection of projects to be funded, monitoring of projects once funded and their evaluation at the end.

Mr. Robert G. Hughes

Good progress is being made. The Economic and Social Research Council already evaluates the outcome of all its research awards. All major Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council projects are appraised prior to commitment and monitored throughout implementation; post-project evaluation will be carried out. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council have reviews in progress. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council decided in December to switch the balance of effort over three years towards monitoring and evaluation.