§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the operations and financial transactions of the Defence Scientific and Technology Laboratory will be related to the Ministry of Defence's Top Level Budget for Corporate Science and Technology established on 1 April 2004. [169386]
§ Mr. IngramThe Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will remain one of the single largest suppliers of research to the new Top Level Budget (TLB). Dstl is a Trading Fund of the Ministry of Defence and it will continue to carry out all such work which, for reasons of sensitivity or security, must be done within Government. Research tasking will continue to be managed through formal tasking orders placed by the Department on the Dstl Trading Fund in accordance with the established Terms of Business Agreement. The new TLB will maintain financial accounts as the customer and the Trading Fund will maintain separate accounts as supplier. The day-to-day operation of the Trading Fund will be a matter for the Chief Executive, directed at a strategic level by the Ministerial owner's board in the Ministry of Defence. The key change represented by the new TLB is a move towards an output based approach for research planning and delivery and this will impact progressively on all research suppliers including Dstl by bringing a sharper focus on the priority needs of key stakeholders in the defence and security area.