§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated cost of guaranteeing the pension rights of employees on privatisation of research council laboratories; and who bears these costs. [2468]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorPrivatisation does not increase the costs of the pension entitlements of research council employees, which are the responsibility of the relevant pension scheme. It may however result in the crystallisation of some existing staff pension liabilities, and these considerations will be taken into account in the relevant prior options reviews.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the legal fees incurred so far by(a) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (b) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, (c) Medical Research Council, (d) Natural Environment Research Council and (e) Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the course of the prior options review of their laboratories; if these costs are borne out of current budgets; and what assessment he has made of the effect of meeting such charges on the funding of research by the research councils. [2467]
§ Mr. TaylorBBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC and PPARC have so far incurred no legal fees in the course of the prior options reviews of the research establishments they sponsor.
Following my announcement in April that the Government accepted the conclusions and recommendations of the prior options review of the Royal Observatories, PPARC has incurred legal fees amounting to £270,000 in taking forward implementation of the recommendations.
Such charges form part of the normal administrative expenditure of the research councils, and therefore feed into the councils' established planning systems.