§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the(a) locations, (b) running costs, (c) salary costs and (d) total Government financial assistance to (i) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (ii) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, (iii) the Economic and Social Research Council, (iv) the Medical Research Council, (v) the Natural Environment Research Council, (vi) the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council and (vii) the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils; and what percentage of staff are based in (1) England and (2) Scotland. [36236]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 27 March 1998]: Details of the locations of the Research Councils and their research establishments are as follows.
Apart from the MRC (London) and CCLRC (Didcot), the Headquarters of the Councils are all located in Swindon. In addition, Councils, have sites at the following locations:
BBSRC: Aberystwyth, Bristol, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Compton (near Newbury), Edinburgh, Harpenden, Norwich, Okehampton, Pirbright, Reading, Roslin, Silsoe, Trecastle (Brecon);CCLRC: Chilbolton (Hampshire), Warrington;MRC: Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Didcot, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton, Warrington, Banjul (The Gambia), Kingston (Jamaica);NERC: Aberystwyth, Banchory, Bangor, Cambridge, Earlyburn, East Kilbride, East Stoke (Dorset), Edinburgh, Eskdalemuir, Exeter, Furzebrook (Dorset), Hartland, Keyworth, Oban, Oxford, Penrhos, Plymouth, Southampton, Staylittle (Wales), Tan Hinon (Powys), Tulloch Lodge, Wallingford, the Wirral, Windermere;66WPPARC: Cambridge, Edinburgh, La Palma and Hawaii;EPSRC and ESRC have no establishments other than their Headquarters.Data on the Councils' running costs and salary costs are not readily available in the form requested. In 1995–96, the last year for which full figures are available, the Councils' total spend on central administration and at their scientific establishments was as follows:
Council £ million BBSRC 75.018 CCLRC 101.608 EPSRC 18.032 ESRC 6.158 MRC 152.058 NERC 167.870 PPARC 25.603 Details of the total Government financial assistance to each of the Councils from the Science Budget in 1998–99 were given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Science, Energy and Industry on 15 January 1998, Official Report, column 271, in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Mr. Roy).
In 1996–97 the percentages of Research Council personnel based in England and Scotland were as follows:
Council England Scotland BBSRC 84 8 CCLRC 100 - ESRC 100 - EPSRC 100 - MRC 87 13 NERC 85 13 PPARC 69 31 Total 88 10 Further details of Research Councils' spend will be given in the Department's Expenditure Plans Report to be published shortly.