SOMEONE really should tell Ian Lang that, as President of the Board of Trade, he is meant to be responsible for coordinating science policy.
Last week鈥檚 Budget shows that government departments continue to go their own way. The budget for science, which funds the research councils, stayed almost constant when inflation is taken into account. Given 鈥渢he prevailing political circumstances鈥� (the need to pay for tax cuts that might restore the government鈥檚 standing), Lang and Ian Taylor, the science and technology minister, have not done too badly.
Elsewhere it鈥檚 a different story. At the Department for Education and Employment, pressure to cut budgets meant that capital expenditure allocated to the universities was cut by over 拢100 million.
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This money is vital because it provides the equipment and facilities for university laboratories. Six years ago, a survey showed that 37 per cent of equipment was over ten years old. The situation has worsened since.
What is the point of one department funding money for research while another compromises the very facilities in which to do it.