The UK Science Department re-engineered by the Prime Minister Liz Truss: The 21st Century as a Scientific Power-Law
The UK finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, has said that the economic crisis will not harm ambitious plans for research spending, much to the relief of researchers.
The black hole in the country’s finances may be plugged with funds promised for science, but universities and scientists were concerned because of previous prime minister Liz Truss’ budgeting decisions.
The UK scientific community largely welcomed the move. “This is another sign of the importance government places on science and innovation,” says Daniel Rathbone, assistant director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, a research-advocacy group in London. It is vital that the practicalities of making changes are not taken away from the time and resources needed to drive forward the promising agenda the government has set out.
Anne Johnson is the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences in London. She warned that there could be problems in the future. Inflation will put pressure on budgets in real terms and we must protect research partnerships around the world.
Paul Nurse is the geneticist who runs the Francis Crick Institute in London.
UK researchers have appreciated clarity on spending, but it is not clear who in Sunak’s government has ultimate responsibility for science. In October, Truss’s government announced that Nusrat Ghani would hold the post of science minister. Sunak has not wavered in her position, but George Freeman who quit the position earlier this year in a bid to force then-prime minister Johnson to resign has also been reappointed.
The 2024–25 commitment reaffirmed by Hunt is one milestone in an earlier pledge to spend 2.4% of gross domestic product on research and development by 2027. But, according to the UK Office for National Statistics — a non-ministerial government body — the government has already met this target. This is mainly because of changes in the way that research and development spending is calculated, rather than any cash boost.
There is a website for the government department that oversees science spending, and there are two men listed asministers of state, one for science and another for investment security. A spokesperson for BEIS could not say who has overall responsibility for science, stating that the ministerial portfolios “are not formally confirmed”.
The United Kingdom now has a government department for science and technology. The Department for Business and Trade was split into three departments on February 7, including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Michelle Donelan, a former universities minister, has been made Secretary of State of the new department, while George Freeman retains his science portfolio, with a promotion up the ministerial ranks to minister of state.
The future of science: a view from Wilsdon on the “Tidal captaincy” of the new Department of Research and Innovation
Rathbone highlighted reform of the R&D tax relief system and access to European research programmes as two big issues the new department needs to tackle.
There is symbolic value in giving science more visibility and a seat at the cabinet table, but “I’m not sure tinkering with the name badges and furniture in Whitehall has any real relevance to the fundamental challenges in the real economy and the research economy”, says Wilsdon.
James Wilsdon, who studies science policy at University College London, says it seems strange to see such a big change in the machinery of government when the country is expecting a general election to be called relatively soon. He says that it has a “deckchairs on the Titanic” feel.