As reported in the BBC this week (Science and tech committee reborn), once again the UK Parliament has a committee to oversee science. In recent ministerial revamps, the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills (DIUS) was merged with BERR to form a new super-ministry - Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) - for Lord Mandelson, who seems to have emerged from the political wilderness to which he was consigned after a scandal too far a few years ago. Interestingly, this means there's no Government department with Education or Science in its title.
Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation is quoted as saying:
"Effective oversight of the use of science across government is important. I look forward to working with the Select Committee in supporting a dynamic science and research base."
On the one hand I welcome a bit more Parliamentary and Government interest in the national science base, but on the other I worry about the emphasis that seems to be building on the focus on applied research that has been developing as the credit crunch and global recession has appeared. Note Lord Drayson's quote: the use of science, and relate that to the appearance of lengthy impact assessments now required in Research Council grant applications. However, those of us conducting basic biological research may be reassured by the BBSRC's guidance note (Economic impact frequently asked questions - pdf). This document paints sets "impact" with a much broader brush than the merely financial or economic (despite the document's title). Clearly Research Council grant applicants need to evaluate how their Council plans to interpret the Impact Assessment.
Anyway, the new committee comprises the same membership as the Innovation, Universities, Skills, and Science Committee (IUSS), which formerly oversaw the workings of DIUS. I suppose this must therefore replace IUSS, but intriguingly that's not explicitly stated in the press release. The committee's membership is:
Mr Phil Willis (Liberal Democrat, Harrogate and Knaresborough)(Chairman) - has worked for many years in this kind of role
Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour, City of Durham) - social scientist and former academic
Mr Tim Boswell (Conservative, Daventry) - degree in Classics and a diploma in agricultural economics
Mr Ian Cawsey (Labour, Brigg & Goole) - has worked in computing for companies, including Seven Seas food supplements
Mrs Nadine Dorries (Conservative, Mid Bedfordshire) - has been a medical rep and a nurse
Dr Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat, Oxford West & Abingdon) - a medical doctor, member of BMA and patron of the Oxford Secular Society
Dr Brian Iddon (Labour, Bolton South East) - BSc Chemistry; PhD in Organic chemistry; DSc for his work in Heterocyclic Organic Chemistry.
Mr Gordon Marsden (Labour, Blackpool South) - Modern History, Politics. Tutored for the Open University for a few years before joining Parliament Dr Bob Spink (UK Independence Party, Castle Point) - MSc in Industrial Engineering, PhD in Economics and Management
Ian Stewart (Labour, Eccles) - worked as chemical plant operator; has MPhil in Management of Change
Mr Graham Stringer (Labour, Manchester, Blackley) - BSc in Chemistry Dr Desmond Turner (Labour, Brighton Kemptown) - Phd in Biochemistry
Mr Rob Wilson (Conservative, Reading East) - attended Reading University, but the Wikipedia page doesn't say what he studied.
An interesting mix of experience! One wonders if the membership will evolve more towards members with experience in science. I'm a little worried to notice that my MP, Nadine Dorries, is a member, after some of her public statements on subjects such as homeopathy and abortion - but hey, we need a variety of opinion on the committee. The committee has a website, which seems at the time I write this to be that of the committee it replaces.
You can browse their work as IUSS.