§ Mr. IngramTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the impact of the equal initiative on the overall research council budgets. [9888]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 13 January 1997]: The equal initiative has had no impact on the overall Research Council budgets, but it is influencing councils' prioritisation. Government funding for research is to support excellence and to refocus and reorientate effort into areas relevant to the well-being of the nation in order to get the best value for every pound invested. Foresight is an important input into the councils' priority setting and equal is an excellent example of Foresight in action. Examples of projects supported that are relevant to equal include: research into ways of detecting and preventing Alzheimer's disease, the influence of diet on health, medical engineering, robotics, and research into the design and utility of technologies for maintaining personal independence.
§ Mr. IngramTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library copies of the instructions from the Office of Science and Technology to the research councils on the implementation of the equal initiative. [9887]
§ Mr. Taylor[holding answer 13 January 1996]: No specific instructions have been issued to the research councils on the implementation of the equal initiative. However, equal is an integration of a very large number of individual priorities identified by the technology foresight sector panels. Research councils already support a number of activities relevant to the equal initiative and we are in the process of developing a more well-defined research agenda involving the research councils, other Government Departments, charities and industry. I addressed a seminar on 25 November 1996 which contributed to refining this process.