SHUFFLING science off to the Department of Trade and industry should not be seen as a demotion, according to Ian Taylor, the junior minister who has just added science to an already packed portfolio which includes space and technology. As he made his first policy statement on science last week, Taylor insisted that the move to the DTI would enhance the prospects for science.
鈥淚 strongly believe in the need for a well-supported and excellent research base,鈥� he said. The new President of the Board of Trade, Ian Lang, 鈥渞egards science and technology as a crucial area of his responsibilities鈥�, added Taylor. Lang did not attend the launch.
The policy statement combines reassurances that basic science is safe in the DTI鈥檚 hands with broad sketches of the minister鈥檚 aims. The DTI 鈥渨ill not kill the goose that has laid the long string of golden eggs鈥�, it promises. Nor, it maintains, will short-term business interests take science over.
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But the eight-page statement also notes that one of the main benefits of moving the Office of Science and Technology to the DTI is 鈥渢o help industry get better connected to science and engineering鈥�. And while he pays his respects to basic science, Taylor gives centre stage to technology and its relevance to industry.
Bringing the OST into the DTI is 鈥渁 marvellous marriage鈥�, said Taylor. But he said little to alleviate fears that research institutions might be sold off and the science budget skewed to more directed ends. 鈥淭he outlook from the DTI is bound to be different,鈥� says Philip Gummett, professor of government and technology at the University of Manchester. 鈥淭he danger is that the focus will narrow too much.鈥�
Even the research councils accept that life at the DTI will mean changes. They will not be able to rely on ring-fencing for science funding, acknowledges Richard Brook, head of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, who nonetheless sees the move as 鈥渁n excellent opportunity鈥�. A fence is important initially, he says, but in time, the OST and the DTI will 鈥渙perate like one organisation鈥�.
That trend has already begun. Last week, the powerful Cabinet committee on science and technology, formerly chaired by the Prime Minister, was submerged in a new, wide-ranging committee on domestic policy, economics and competitiveness. Taylor urged scientists not to be 鈥渄istracted鈥� by organisational details but to concentrate on what the DTI will deliver.