§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what share of the Government's programme of capital investment for science will be allocated to the National Environment Research Council to fund programmes which were developed by the Scottish Association for Marine Science at the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory. [132362]
§ Ms HewittMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry expects to announce the allocations of the Science Budget to individual Research Councils, including the Natural Environment Research Council, in the autumn, after taking advice from the Director General of Research Councils. It will then be for NERC to determine the balance of its priorities for funding including the funding of programmes at the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory.
§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the implications for marine science in Scotland of the closure of the Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences at Dunstaffnage. [132361]
§ Ms HewittNERC has decided to disband the overarching Centre for Coastal and Marine Science (CCMS), not to close the CCMS laboratories themselves. The crucial role of the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, in delivering core strategic and applied marine science for NERC and other customers, will continue in different ways involving local and regional collaboration.