Research centres are reprieved
15 Jan 2000
The Department of Trade and Industry has decided that the three environmental research establishments funded by the government should remain within the public sector. However, adds science and technology minister Ian Taylor, all three laboratories will be expected to `pursue opportunities for rationalisation and restructuring' indicated by the review process.
The three centres - the British Geological Survey, the Centre for Coastal and Marine Science and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology - are controlled by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC). Their review was part of a wider study on the private sector research establishments, carried out by their parent research council or institution, which began early last year.
According to Taylor, the review of the NERC laboratories concluded that their work was still needed; that they should remain within the public sector; and that they should maintain their separate identities. However, Taylor said that the director-general of research councils, John Cadogan, should oversee rationalisation and restructuring at the centres. Moreover, he added, the NERC should continue to develop an `arm's length relationship' with the three research centres.
