Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 July 1996. It was answered by Ian Taylor (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 July 1996 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: What assessment he has made of the contribution made by universities to the science and engineering base for the United Kingdom's industrial competitiveness.

Answer: Mr. Harvey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the contribution made by universities to the science and engineering base for the United Kingdom's industrial competitiveness.[36552] Mr. Taylor: As set out in the White Paper "Competitiveness; Creating the enterprise centre of Europe", the United Kingdom universities play a vital part in enabling British industry to develop and exploit new science, engineering and technology and in the creation of a well education and highly skilled work force. Without the excellence of our science and engineering base and our graduate work force the United Kingdom could not sustain the innovation and general business performance needed to ensure our competitiveness. The Scottish Office, as part of its "Commercialisation Enquiry" with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, undertook a number of studies which highlight the importance of commercialisation of research to the Scottish economy, and the direct and indirect benefits of research in Scottish universities. Producing indicators which reflect and impact publicly-funded research makes in new ideas and understanding is not a trivial task and is one issue I addressed in my speech to the Royal Institution on March 21.

Secondary information