I am delighted to be here today at the formal opening of the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus.

I am particularly pleased because after many difficult years when I was first Minister of Science, the scientists and all the staff employed on this site have in recent years seized the opportunities open to them, with the result that today Daresbury is not only making a major scientific contribution to our society, but is also helping to drive forward innovation in the economy of the North-West.

As a result, on my recommendation, in March 2006 "Science and Innovation: Next Steps 2004 - 2014" Budget Report announced the creation of two new International Science and Innovation Campuses, one here at Daresbury and the other located at Harwell in Oxfordshire.

The Government is looking to develop these two Science and Innovation Campuses to ensure that the facilities located on them, both support world-class science and maximise opportunities for knowledge transfer. These campuses are being developed both to optimise science and technology investment, and provide an important way for business and the public sector to access science and technology capability and expertise. 

CCLRC's strengths as a provider of large research facilities and science programmes, along with its excellence in instrumentation and engineering, are central to the development of this vision. The implementation of this vision will be further enhanced by the co-location of university and industry partners on both sites. These campuses will therefore have the capacity to act as a primary focus for innovation and knowledge transfer in the UK, and have the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK's international competitiveness by attracting major R&D intensive investment to the U.K.

Here at Daresbury, an excellent partnership and strategic vision has been developed between CCLRC, NWDA, the universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster, and Halton Borough Council. This partnership has led to the recent formation of the new campus Strategic Board which involves the Chief Executives and Vice Chancellors of all of the key partner organisations, and which is chaired by Sir Martin Harris, from whom you have just heard.

This 'Daresbury Campus model', where CCLRC's world-class science base is enhanced by university research activities, has meant that both the universities and CCLRC gain scientifically by the significantly increased opportunities for knowledge transfer, while at the same time creating sufficient critical mass to attract further inward investment.

In addition to the ongoing significant level of CCLRC activities on site, over the past three years the NWDA has formally confirmed Daresbury as one of four North West "strategic sites" and has already invested in excess of £50M to drive forward development of the campus.

Since it came into office the Government has hugely increased the funding of the science base and introduced significant incentives for knowledge transfer. When the government came to power, the science budget was £1.3 billion. As a result of substantial increases in a number of spending reviews, the science budget will have more than doubled in real terms to £3.4 billion by 2007/8.

The Government has also through the Higher Education Fund given Universities major incentives to transfer knowledge, and the universities have responded swiftly and enthusiastically to these incentives. As a result we have seen a significant rise in all the measures of knowledge transfer, licensing, patents, spin-off companies and contract work for industry. In the past two years alone, 20 spin outs from UK universities have floated on the stock market with a combined value of £1.3bn. During the first three years of funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund the number of patents granted to universities also increased by 98%, the gross income from IP increased by 112% and consultancy income increased by 104%.

Earlier this morning I visited the Daresbury Tower, from there I was able to visualise the development of this campus. This new building in which we now stand - the Cockcroft Institute - along with the neighbouring building, the Daresbury Innovation Centre - are excellent examples of how this vision is being taken forward.

The Daresbury Innovation Centre provides clear evidence of the success of the campus. That building was opened in April 2005, and is already home to 24 high technology companies, which have chosen to locate here in preference to other locations.
The reasons for new companies locating here are interesting and important. They include the co-location with CCLRC's scientific and technical activities which has proved a major 'pull' to many companies. Other important factors include the strategic links with the region's key research-led universities, the availability of high quality business facilities and advice, and the obvious very strong ongoing ambition of all the campus partners to drive forward the development of the campus.

As a result, the Daresbury Innovation Centre continues to receive enquiries from potential high-technology company occupants, and is expected to be full by the end of the current calendar year. This is a great success story for both the Daresbury campus and for the North West.

Another successful component of the campus is the Cockcroft Institute - the National Centre for Accelerator Science in which we are now standing. This building has been named after the eminent Nobel Prize winner Sir John Cockcroft who was recognised for his pioneering work on particle accelerators and their use in studies of the structure of the atomic nucleus.  I am delighted that Sir John's son and daughters are able to join us today to mark this important occasion. This new National Centre, initiated by PPARC in collaboration with CCLRC and the NWDA, is designed to grow the UK academic base in this globally significant research area. 

Since its formation in September 2005, the Cockcroft Institute has already received funding of £27 million from its partners including PPARC, NWDA the EU, University partners and CCLRC itself.
These developments are, however, only the beginning. A special purpose vehicle, 'DSIC Ltd', has now been formed to attract further investment onto the site and to facilitate potential further expansion onto greenfield land bordering the existing campus.  Negotiations with potential private sector partners are also well advanced regarding the shorter-term construction of up to a further four high technology buildings on the campus.

We support the commercialisation of research carried out by Public Sector Research Establishments, such as Daresbury, through the Public Sector Research Exploitation, or PSRE Fund.  Earlier this year Government announced the outcome of the third round of this fund, which provided nearly £25m to help research establishments build up the capacity and expertise to manage the commercialisation of their research and to provide early stage capital. 

I am delighted to see that CLIK - CCLRC's commercialisation arm - was one of the organisations receiving significant funding.  I know that Daresbury is already achieving successes in commercial exploitation of its research - for example through the L3T spin-out company which was set up to commercialise a brand new method of Cholesterol monitoring. I am sure that the funding for CLIK will help Daresbury and other parts of CCLRC, continue to turn excellent research into business successes.  In this country in recent years we have greatly increased our rate of knowledge transfer and our rate of innovation, but there is a lot more we need to do.

Finally, you will probably be aware that the Government has recently announced the creation of a new Large Facilities Council which will be in place by April 2007. Establishing this new Council will allow the UK to take a more strategic and integrated approach to UK investments in large scientific facilities, both nationally and internationally. Access to large scientific facilities has an increasingly international dimension and we are keen to ensure that UK scientists have access to as many world-class facilities as possible. The development of Science and Innovation campuses, at Daresbury and Harwell, are integral to this aim and will be a key responsibility of the new council. It is also envisaged that major UK large scientific facilities will be located at both campuses in the future, with the campuses ensuring that cost-effective and coherent development opportunities for business - university collaboration and knowledge transfer are fully exploited.

For all these reasons, it gives me great pleasure, both personally and as a Government Minister, to open formally the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, and the Cockcroft Institute. Exciting opportunities lie ahead and I am confident that the scientists and all the people employed here will enthusiastically seize them, and make a major contribution to the scientific and economic health of our country.