§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect the Director General of Research Councils to publish his review of the science budget portfolio.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earle Howe)Copies of the director general's review have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses by my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster along with copies of the research councils' own analyses of the strengths and weakness of the UK science and engineering base and a summary of the centres that the director general visited and the organisations that he met. This is an excellent assessment of the state of science and engineering research in Britain today. It shows that we have major strengths in many areas and that we are continuing to build on those strengths for the benefit of Britain and British industry. Although there are no serious problems in the science and engineering base, the review exposes some weaknesses and describes the corrective action taken in the expenditure allocations announced by my right honourable friend on 2 February 1995.