Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Adam Afriyie (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 11 June 2009 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Scientific Research

Question: There are clearly many unanswered questions about science funding in the future. Just two years ago, the Prime Minister announced with a great fanfare that he was creating a new Department called the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which basically separated science from business, yet less than two years later he has abandoned that new Department and taken us back to the future, with all the resultant costs and confusion. The question is: was he wrong back then, or is he wrong today? Like Thomas More, I see no further alternative.

Answer: I am not sure where the hon. Gentleman has been living for the past two years, but I have to tell him that there have been some changes in the economy in that period. We face a worldwide economic downturn, and in those circumstances, it makes absolute sense to bring together science, business, and higher and further education. We now have a Department in which educational opportunity, science and innovation and support for business all work together for the benefit of the country's economy. That can only be a good thing, and I would have hoped that he would support it. Perhaps he should address his concerns to his party's Treasury spokespeople, given the 10 per cent. cut in the Department's budget that his party would make if it had its way.

Secondary information