§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the current arrangements within the Science Councils and elsewhere in the United Kingdom for conducting Arctic research; how much taxpayer funding currently goes to Arctic research, Antarctic research, bi-Polar research, and global ocean research in general; and what bodies are carrying out that research. [HL1207]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyThe UK is a member of both the International Arctic Science Committee (and 117WA currently holds the Chair) and the Arctic Ocean Sciences Board. Within the Natural Environment Research Council, (NERC), the Polar Expert Group provides advice to Council in Arctic research. Earlier this year the NERC's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology established a UK Arctic Network (UKAN) for ecologists and hydrologists. A number of departments and agencies (including MAFF, MoD, DETR, ESRC) undertake or support polar research. The NERC expenditure for Arctic, Antarctic and Bi-Polar research in 1997–98 is estimated at:
£ million Arctic research 1.3 Antarctic research 25.6 Bi-Polar research1 1.1 1 Includes upper atmospheric research in the Antarctic which complements that funded by PPARC in the Arctic. In addition, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) provides funding for facilities based in the Arctic which are used to support PPARC's Solar-Terrestrial physics programme. In 1998–99 the planned total expenditure is £1.8 million, which includes subscription costs where relevant, support for the exploitation of those facilities, and the costs of UK programme management and technical and scientific support. The facilities are the European Incoherent Scatter Facility (EISCAT), the Collaborative UK Twin Location Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) radars, and SAMNET and Riometers, which are national facilities managed by British universities.
The most recent analysis of public expenditure on marine-related research and development was undertaken by the Government's Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology in 1996. Total civil spend in 1994–95 is estimated at £193 million. This includes marine R&D undertaken or supported by MAFF, SOAFED, DOE (now DETR) NRA (now EA), NIO, DoT (now DETR), DTI, NERC, ODA (now DFID), HSE, the Meteorological Office and UK universities.