Government meeting science goals

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown today hailed the continued success of the Government’s 10-year framework on investment in science and innovation, with good progress reported across-the-board from schools and universities to ground-breaking research facilities.

The UK Science Forum, chaired by Sir Tom McKillop and attended by the Chancellor and other senior ministers, will meet today at 11 Downing Street to discuss the second annual report on implementation of the 10-year framework. The report concludes that the programme is well on course, and that from an already strong position, the UK research base is continuing to improve, helped by increased investment to develop both new areas of research and a sustainable capacity for the future.

The achievements noted in the report include:

Stronger performance in research excellence. The UK continues to increase its world share of citations and high impact papers and remains at the head of the G8 on research efficiency and productivity measures.
Stronger links between universities and business and community organisations and strong market debuts for university spin-out flotations. A further ten university spin-out companies were floated in 2005 bringing the Initial Public Offering value to over £1 billion.
The announcement of plans to strengthen the role of the Technology Strategy Board across Government.
The creation of an analytical framework to relate key emerging technology clusters to policy priority areas.
The launch of consultation on proposals for a metrics-based research assessment and funding system with the intention of creating a less burdensome and costly system to succeed the Research Assessment Exercise after 2008.
Further measures to improve the skills of science teachers, the quality of science lessons and increase progression to A-level sciences.
Effective, early, public engagement on issues surrounding nanotechnology, brain science and stem cells.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said:

"In a globalised economy, our economic success will depend on our ability to create new knowledge and translate it into innovative goods and services. That is why we want a Britain which is a world leader in all areas of scientific research, investing in scientific excellence in our schools and universities, and forging stronger links between businesses and the science base.”

Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling, said:

"We want to make the UK a world leader for science, research and innovation. The last decade has seen a renaissance in our research facilities and laboratories, with record Government investment of more than £2 billion in our research infrastructure since 1999.

This Annual Report shows not only strong evidence of the quality of UK basic research but also a step change in turning our research breakthroughs into tomorrow's exciting new products and companies. Transforming these innovative ideas into wealth is essential for the continued prosperity of the UK economy."

The Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Alan Johnson, said:

“Education at all levels has a key role to play in delivering the skills and knowledge that tomorrow’s economy will need. In 2004, we set out ambitious plans, backed with unprecedented levels of investment, to raise the quality of science teaching and learning in our schools, colleges and universities. Only two years later, many of those aspirations have already become reality and in this year’s Budget we have been able to raise our sights still further. While we are not complacent, we are confident of renewed success in providing the base of scientific and technological skills that our country needs.”

Sir Tom McKillop, Chair of the UK Science Forum and Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said:

"The ten year framework sets out ambitious targets and the Science Forum is assisting the Government in monitoring progress towards those objectives. While good progress has been made, much more remains to be done."

Notes for editors

1. The Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014 was published in July 2004 alongside the 2004 Spending Review. The Department for Trade and Industry, the Treasury and the Department for Education and Skills today jointly published the 10-Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework: Annual Report 2006.

2. The10-Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework: Annual Report 2006 is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/

3. The Science and Innovation Investment framework 2004-2014: Next Steps was published in March 2006 alongside the Budget and is available on the Treasury website http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/

4. The UK Science Forum stems from a 2003 Lambert Review recommendation to establish a high-level forum to support the UK’s R&D and innovation goals and to inform future spending decisions.

5. Today the DTI published three related publications which provide information on the extent to which universities and PSREs (Public Sector Research Institutes) are making the investments required to maintain the delivery of scientific research and the level of commercialisation and transfer of knowledge from PSREs. All three are available on the DTI website at :-
University sustainability http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/science funding/Funders_Forum/page31727.html

PSRE sustainability
http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/science-funding/ripss/page22675.html

PSRE Knowledge Transfer http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/knowledge transfer/psre/page12062.html

6. Media enquiries on the 10-Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework: Annual Report 2006 should be addressed to the Treasury Press Office on 0207 270 5238, Clare Kennedy at the DTI Press Office on 020 7215 6140 and Nicola Savage at the DfES Press Office on 020 7925 5361.

7. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558, or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

8. This press release and other Treasury publications and information are available on the Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/. If you would like Treasury press releases to be sent to you automatically by e-mail you can subscribe to this service from the press release site on the website.