Articles and Speeches

Government ignored warnings of ‘severely constrained’ physics budget

16-Jan-08, Press Release.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) warned the Government about the likely impact of a ‘flat cash’ budget allocation five months prior to the science budget announcement, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

The Government had been warned by the STFC as early as July 2007 that a flat cash allocation would mean science facilities would operate ‘at significantly reduced level’ and the provision of grants would be ‘severely constrained’. Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of the STFC, later described the Government’s settlement as ‘an essentially flat cash allocation’.

Commenting, Shadow Science and Innovation Minister Adam Afriyie said:

“Government Ministers are stoking resentment by boasting about levels of science spending when, in reality, they know that deep cuts to physics and astronomy budgets are resulting in redundancies and seriously weakening our research base.  

“What’s most alarming is that the Government were warned about the effect of the cuts in July last year but did nothing about it when allocating the science budget

“The current crisis is a result of incompetence or a deliberate decision to cut the STFC budget, yet Ministers are refusing to accept responsibility in their desperate attempt to blame the STFC– they should have the courage to be accountable for their decisions or their incompetence.”

Notes:

Freedom of Information documents available at: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/users/peachk/STFoIC/response-1.htm

ENDS

Contact Details:

Telephone: 020 7219 8023

Email: afriyiea@parliament.uk