Annual report 2002 : second report of session 2002-03 : report, together with minutes of proceedings / House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology.
Date:
2003
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Annual report 2002 : second report of session 2002-03 : report, together with minutes of proceedings / House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/32 (page 21)
    ANNEX C Memorandum from the Science and Technology Committee to the Liaison Committee 1. The Liaison Committee has asked for annual activity reports from each Select Committee. This memorandum describes the activities of the Science and Technology Committee in the current Parliament. The final report of our predecessor Committee, published last May, described the Committee’s activities in the first part of 2001.! Delay in nomination 2. The Committee was nominated on 12 November 2001. This was almost four months after the other departmental Select Committees were appointed (on16 July 2001) and four full weeks after the House returned from the Summer Adjournment. We greatly regret the delay in our nomination, which lost us a valuable period of work. It was as if, once the target of setting up the Committees before the Summer appeared to have been achieved, interest was lost in finishing the job. We ask the Liaison Committee to urge the Government to ensure that, after the next General Election, all Committees be nominated without delay. Activities to date 3. Because of the delay in our nomination, we have little more that one month’s activity to report. We have held six meetings. We have undertaken a short follow-up inquiry into our predecessor Committee’s 2000 Report on Cancer Research’, with one evidence session in December and another planned for January. We have launched two inquiries for the New Year, on the Research Assessment Exercise (which informs the funding of Higher Education) and on Science Education from 14 to 19. We have had a “scrutiny” evidence session with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Minister for Science and Innovation and the Director General of Research Councils. We have obtained a memorandum from the Department of Trade and Industry on the implications of the DTI review for the Office of Science and Technology. We have made plans to visit the Office of Science and Technology in London and the Research Councils (our main “associated public bodies”) in Swindon, in January. 4. After our first meeting, we took the innovative step of issuing a press notice inviting interested organisations in the field of science and technology to suggest topics for investigation. We received an extensive and very useful response, which has informed our decision on future inquiries. 5. We have held a meeting to discuss our objectives and our method of working. We have plans for another, informal, meeting, away from Westminster, in January, when we will discuss further how we can be most effective in scrutinising Government. Government Replies 6. We have received Government Replies to three Reports of the Committee in the last Parliament (on the Scientific Advisory System, Are We Realising Our Potential?, and Wave and Tidal Energy) and published them as Special Reports.? These Replies were received, respectively, six to 12 months, almost seven months, and six months ' Fourth Special Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 2000-01, The Work of the Science and Technology Committee in the 1997-2001 Parliament, HC 476. 2 Sixth Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 1999-2000, Cancer Research—a Fresh Look, HC 332. 3 First Special Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 2001-02, The Government’s Response to the Science and Technology Committee’s Fourth Report, Session 2000-01, on the Scientific Advisory system, HC 360. Second Special Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 2001-02, The Government’s Response to the Science and Technology Committee’s Sixth Report, Session 2000-01, Are We Realising Our Potential?, HC 361. Third Special Report from the Science and Technology Committee, Session 2001-02, The Government’s Response to the Science and Technology Committee’s Seventh Report, Session 2000-01, on Wave and Tidal Energy, HC 377.