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Dept of Trade and Industry

Answer

Mr. Ingram: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the growth in short-term appointments within the publicly funded science, engineering and technology base; and what actions he is taking to reduce the number of such appointments. [18358] Mr. Ian Taylor: In principle, fixed-term contracts bring benefits to research and to researchers in terms of increased flexibility and opportunities. In recent years, there has been particularly strong growth in universities in research and in the number of research posts, most on a fixed-term basis. Tensions can arise where contract staff are, for whatever reasons, not as well managed as they might be. We acknowledged the concerns in the 1993 White Paper "Realising Our Potential: A Strategy for Science, Engineering and Technology" and set out policies for addressing them. To implement these we have increased funding for the prestigious and longer-term university research fellowships, administered by the Royal Society. The research councils have also restructured and strengthened their fellowship provision. A significant achievement has been an agreement, or concordat, brokered by the Office of Science and Technology, between the research councils, the Royal Society and bodies representing the universities and colleges, which aims to improve the career management of contract research staff. This was launched in September last year, and has been widely welcomed. The research councils are committed to applying its principles to research staff in council institutes and units. The OST is discussing with other Government Departments the possible extension of principles in the concordat to the management of research staff in other public sector research establishments.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

18358; 291 c480-1W

Session

1996-97

Subjects

Contracts Employment Technology Research Science Office of Science and Technology Research councils