1.  Following the request for Lord Rooker and Professor Dalton to give oral evidence, Defra welcomes the opportunity to contribute written evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee's inquiry into Research Council Institutes.

  2.  This memorandum focuses on addressing Defra's interaction with the Research Council Institutes (RCIs) and Defra's strategy for formulating and communicating its research requirements.

DEFRA AND RESEARCH COUNCIL INSTITUTE INTERACTIONS

  3.  Defra acknowledges the key role that RCIs play in maintaining the UK research and skills base. The value of the RCIs is distinct from that of universities and other research providers in that they provide long-term capability in some areas of research. The relationships between Defra and the RCIs (and their parent bodies, the Research Councils) are primarily founded on long-term dialogue and joint identification of research priorities. These relationships are not simply those of contractor-supplier but also have a strategic/investment element. Our relations are supported by extensive interactions at several levels:

—  Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) is a member of both NERC and BBSRC Councils.

—  The Chief Executives of BBSRC, ESRC and NERC are represented at the Defra Science Advisory Council.

—  Regular formal and informal bilateral meetings are held between Defra's CSA and Research Council Chief Executives.

—  There is two-way representation on working groups.

—  We coordinate through strategic forums such as the Global Environment Change Committee and Environmental Research Funders Forum.

—  We have joint programmes of research.

—  We coordinate responses to consultations and engagement in strategy development processes.

—  We augment our project contract management with interactions between our policy group Science Coordinators and individual Institute directors and senior research leaders.

—  We have Research Framework Agreements in place with BBSRC and NERC.

  This builds a common understanding of the changing drivers, pressures and priorities between Defra and the RCIs.

DEFRA'S R&D INVESTMENT

  4.  Table 1 shows Defra's planned spend on R&D in each year since 2001 (when Defra was created) and the actual outturn each year.

  In 2005-06 and 2006-07, financial pressures within the Department have required in-year savings. We have ensured that priority areas of science are, wherever possible, protected and that possible impacts on key R&D contractors, including RCIs, are fully considered and minimised.

  5.  Table 2 shows Defra's R&D spend (2005-06), broken down by contractor groups. In that year 49.4% of Defra's committed R&D funds were allocated to Public Sector Research Establishments. A further 20.2% were committed to UK universities.

  6.  RCIs are a crucial component of the UK's Science and Engineering Base, providing long-term focus and continuity in areas of science. The provision of continuity and the alignment of research with strategic priorities without necessarily following scientific "fashion" is one of the important strengths of the RCIs.

  7.  In some areas of interest to Defra (for example, animal health), the RCIs form a major part of a very limited supplier base. Defra is committed to having this laboratory capability to ensure provision of the evidence needed to underpin the development and delivery of policy and in the case of emergencies. It is important for the Government to invest in RCIs because the open market is not able to supply all Government's needs. This happens for a number of reasons: the R&D is commercially unattractive; the science requires high levels of physical or biological security; the availability of capacity to respond to emergency situations needs to be guaranteed; the need to ensure that particular scientific services will be available in the future.

  8.  The RCIs also form part of the broad pool of research skills and facilities across the public, university and private sectors on which Defra draws to meet its science needs. In some areas of science within this wider competitive research market, RCIs enjoy preferred supplier status by virtue of strategic partnerships with Defra built up over many years and through their custodianship of long-term data-sets and experimental sites.

  9.  Defra's research requirements, like those of other Government Departments, are dynamic, reflecting the changing challenges facing modern society. If they are to survive and prosper, the RCIs must be able to respond to these changing needs and reposition their output accordingly. In general they do this well. There may however be limits to the extent to which Defra's traditional partners among the RCI community can reconfigure their science towards new objectives in an appropriate timeframe. Through Defra's Evidence and Innovation Strategy (E&IS) processes, significant gaps have been identified in the evidence needed to meet strategic priorities, in particular in relation to climate change and energy. In addition, Defra has identified a future, increasing, need for analysis and for the social and economic sciences. It remains to be seen whether the RCIs are necessarily best placed to meet these needs. It is also the case that with many competing demands on public spending, meeting Defra's new and pressing evidence requirements will inevitably squeeze the resources available to invest in research in some traditional areas of RCI science.

  10.  Defra is fully committed to putting into practice the recommendations from the RCI and Public Sector Research Establishment Sustainability Study (RIPSS)[32]. In the context of Defra's ownership of its three laboratory agencies the recommendations are being taken forward through the Department's Laboratory Strategy Programme. The key RIPSS recommendation which affects Defra in relation to the RCIs is Recommendation 2:

"Research Council Chief Executives and Permanent Secretaries of Government departments, working through Chief Scientific Advisors, should be jointly accountable for developing joint scientific and investment strategies for their cross-boundary research interests. As a minimum, such an interest exists if the Government department procures 15% or more of a RC institute's turnover. Once agreed, these joint strategic plans should be deemed to place a commitment on a Government department's science budget holder to honour the joint agreement. RCUK and CSAC should jointly review such strategies every five years".

  11.  Our key RIPSS relationship is with the BBSRC. At the time the policy was agreed, Defra procured more than 15% of the turnover of three BBSRC institutes—Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) (about 40%); Rothamsted Research (about 20%); the Institute of Animal Health (IAH) (about 20%).

  12.  It is vital that the UK has critical infrastructure to undertake exotic disease research and provide a disease outbreak response and both Defra's Veterinary Laboratory Agency (VLA) and IAH have a role to play. Defra has been working together with BBSRC and the Office of Science and Innovation on a £121 million project to rebuild a new joint VLA-IAH virology laboratory facility at the IAH's Pirbright site. With work on the Defra-IAH relationship progressing via other routes, our discussions with the BBSRC on implementing RIPSS have thus focussed on IGER and Rothamsted Research.

  13.  Initial discussions were held in 2004 with BBSRC on taking forward the RIPPS agenda. These discussions were put on hold as Defra had just embarked upon the E&IS process to establish its medium-term science requirements. Until this process was nearer to conclusion it would have been premature to enter into firm financial commitments with BBSRC. Following consultation, in February 2006, proposals essentially consisting of measures to improve dialogue and engagement between Defra and BBSRC and its institutes, were put to BBSRC. Full agreement between Defra and BBSRC on the interpretation of RIPSS has not yet been reached, specifically relating to the interpretation of RIPSS Recommendation 2 as obliging Defra to make medium to long-term financial commitments to IGER and Rothamsted Research. Defra and BBSRC are able to agree a programme of science required but Defra cannot commit funds without first agreeing, in some detail, the research to be delivered in return for our investment.

  14.  To further our commitment to RIPPS Defra sits on the Whitehall forum "Research Establishment Sustainability UK". The overarching aim of this forum is to provide an environment where the sponsors of Public Sector Research Establishments can consider their collective impact on the long term sustainability of these bodies and their outputs to the UK science base.

DEFRA'S EVIDENCE AND INNOVATION STRATEGY

  15.  Defra has put much effort into improving and communicating its processes for identifying and planning for our science requirements, for example the 10 year science forward look[33] and the Evidence and Innovation Strategy[34] project. This follows the Rothschild principle that Departments have to be active customers for the research upon which they depend for their policy making.

  16.  Defra's Evidence and Innovation Strategy (E&IS) project provides an assessment of Defra's evidence and innovation needs. It has aimed to improve understanding of how evidence and innovation (E&I) can best support delivery of Defra's strategic outcomes. It also looked at how programmes will evolve in the future helping the department to refocus its use of knowledge (including science, social science, economics, statistics and engineering) in achieving its objectives in the context of the Five Year Strategy. The objective was to achieve a realignment of evidence and innovation activities around the strategic outcomes. This involved looking at the types of knowledge required in each outcome area, how programmes in individual areas contributed to other outcome areas and how resources should be allocated to reflect the relative priorities and value in different areas. The E&IS exercise reviewed Defra's evidence needs and investment—around £330 million a year—in order to align them with policy priorities.

  17.  Over much of the last two years, the E&IS project has been Defra's main vehicle for identifying the evidence needed to develop policy and drive innovation. The project was initiated by Defra's 2004 report Evidence and innovation and was informed by the Government's 2004 Science & innovation investment framework 2004-14[35]. The Evidence and innovation report set out—against Ministers' five strategic priorities—an assessment of Defra's likely needs from the sciences (including the social sciences) over the next 10 years. Its purpose was to inform both internal and external stakeholders about key directions of change (including emerging and declining needs) and to provide an evidence base for the redirection of funding at the strategic level. The report highlighted the increasing complexity and breadth of the issues around which Defra would need to develop evidence-based policies, such as the long-term challenge of global climate change.

  18.  The E&IS project has enabled Defra to improve its ability to ensure evidence-related activities are fully relevant and of value to policy. Additionally, it has increased awareness of a range of issues, including the value of the social sciences, the need to balance secondary analysis and interpretation with longer-term research, and the importance of policy monitoring and evaluation.

  19.  As a result of analysis undertaken through the E&IS to determine E&I needs across the department according to strategic requirements, an exercise was undertaken in 2005 and early 2006 to review the funding of R&D across the departments strategic outcomes (as defined for 2005-10 in Defra's Five Year Strategy). As a result of this exercise the department has been able to realign its R&D investment with its priorities.

  20.  Defra has now published the report "Our approach to evidence and innovation" online[36]. This document, which has developed through the E&IS project, outlines how Defra corporately manages E&I and sets out the challenges that Defra needs to tackle. These challenges are grouped under five general aims:

(a)  Improve our ability to identify priority evidence needs by working with others.

(b)  Ensure we have effective processes for assembling and communicating existing evidence.

(c)  Realign Defra's R&D investment with departmental priorities and maximise the value of this investment by co-operating with other funders.

(d)  Ensure that all Defra policies are based on a robust and broad understanding of all relevant evidence.

(e)  Enable all areas of Defra to address innovation in their policy approaches.

  21.  The publication of "Our approach to evidence and innovation" has enabled us to communicate with our stakeholders the strategic work that Defra has undertaken to determine our evidence and innovation activities; as well as develop improved tools and approaches for evidence-based policy-making.

  22.  For RCIs "Our approach to evidence and innovation" presents a strategic and long-term perspective which we will use in planning our evidence and innovation activities to inform expenditure plans and our strategy for the longer-term development of Defra's science base, its capacity and needs.

October 2006

http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/publications/documents/ScienceForwardLook3rd.pdf

http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/how/documents/EvidenceAndInnovation.pdf

http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/how/documents/EvidenceAndInnovation.pdf

30   From 2006-07, R&D baseline reflects the removal of £11 million for work now classified as "non-R&D" and transfer of this amount to non-R&D budgets. Expenditure on this work had been included at a similar level in previous year R&D baselines back to 2001-02 and therefore masks a significant planned increase from 2006-07, based on the previous spending levels. Back

31   Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Central Science Laboratory. Back

32   http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file14578.pdf Back

33   Evidence and innovation: Defra's needs from the sciences over the next 10 years, July 2004. Back

34   Our approach to evidence and innovation, October 2006. Back

35   http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spending_review/spend_sr04/associated_documents/spending_sr04_-science.cfm Back

36   Our approach to evidence and innovation, October 2006. Back