§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money has been allocated to the technology foresight programme; and over that time period. [27007]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 29 April 1996]: New initiatives worth £200 million over four years from public and private funding are already in place. This figure comprises £36 million to fund research equipment in foresight priority areas during 1996–97, £60 million for the foresight challenge extending over the next four years, and £70 million for new LINK programmes responding to foresight priorities. The balance is made up of new components of mainstream research programmes in research councils and Government Departments, such as 14 new Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council programmes for which £15 million of grants have been awarded, and the DTI's information society initiative—£35 million over four years—which addresses several priority areas identified in the foresight programme. I expect further initiatives to be reported.