SUMMARY OF CST MEETING ON 4/5 SEPTEMBER 2006
Attendees
1. The meeting was chaired in part by Sir Keith Peters and in part by Sir David King. The other members present were:
Professor Sir John Beringer, Professor Geoffrey Boulton, Andrew Gould, Professor Wendy Hall, Dr Hermann Hauser, Professor Alan Hughes (via conference call), Dr Sue Ion, Dr Raj Rajagopal, Professor Michael Sterling, Professor Kathy Sykes, Dr Mark Walport.
2. Also in attendance for parts of the meeting were: Dr James Cutshall (DFES), Professor Gordon Mackerron (Chair CoRWM) and Sue Duncan (Governement Chief Social Reseracher).
Conclusions
CST agreed to write to the following:
- DFES, with CSTs formal response to the Research Assessment Exercise consultation document by the deadline of 13th October. The Government launched a consultation on its preferred option for a metric based system - results are due to be published in time for the 2006 Pre-Budget Report
- Better Regulation Executive, with CSTs formal response to the consultation on the proposed revision of the Regulatory Impact Assessment.
- Chancellor of the Exchequer on Science and Innovation Framework. A meeting between the Chancellor and CST, to discuss CSTs Innovation and Wealth Creation agenda was proposed.
Ongoing work includes:
- Innovation: This project is considering how maximum value creation can be obtained from R&D inputs, with a particular focus on: (i) innovation in the services sector (ii) barriers to growth in small and medium sized enterprises. Procurement is a key theme from both these agendas. CST has written to the PM with proposals and recommendations on Government procurement. Engagement with the Chancellor on the Innovation agenda is also being sought.
- The Research Endeavour: CST is currently considering how the UK should position its research base so that it is fit for purpose in 20 years time. There are two main components in this - the people and the structures, ie the who and the how. Work is currently being informed by a 'Young Researchers' workshop and a study by Technopolis Ltd which is reviewing available evidence, due to report at the end of September. The subgroup should have substantial proposals to submit to December CST meeting and would also be able to produce significant input into a future CST/PM meeting
- Nanotechnology Review: CST is reviewing progress on actions set out in the Government's response to the Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering report "Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: opportunites and uncertainties" As part of the review, a call for evidence was published on Thursday 6th July. The deadline for submissions is Monday 2nd October. A seminar on recent developments in Nanotechnology was held on 4th September, attended by a good cross-section of interested parties.
Other items discussed included:
- Gordon Mackerron, Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) was invited to discussed their recent report "Managing our radio active waste safely" The report was published following an extensive public and stakeholder engagement programme. Issues addressed included the engagements methods employed, the successes achieved and what lessons could be learnt.
- Government's Chief Social Researcher, Sue Duncan was invited to attend the CST meeting. Government Social Research service has a broad role in promoting the use of evidence in strategy, policy and delivery and leads on strategic social research issues and standards for social research in Government.
- CST is currently looking at what topics it will focus on in early 2007. Preliminary discussions have flagged up a number of areas and these will be discussed in full at the December 2006 CST meeting.
The next CST meeting will be on 18/19 December 2006.