UK cabinet shuffle impacts science

Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled and replaced some members of his cabinet earlier today. The UK cabinet runs government.

Two years ago as part of a shakeup of the public education and industry sector the government created the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) which would control the majority of UK science funding. By creating one department focused on science research and graduate education, the government hoped to increase science’s visibility, both within the treasury department—which controls the purse strings—and among the public. The unit was run by John Denham.

This experiment is now over. Under the reshuffle DIUS has been merged with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform . The new entity, which will be run by Peter Mandelson , is called the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). It will “create a single department committed to building Britain’s future economic strengths” says a press release from 10 Downing Street .

The release also states that DBIS will put “the UK’s Further Education system and universities closer to the heart of government thinking about building now for the [economic] upturn.”

Not everyone is convinced this is a good idea. Martin Doel, CEO of the Association of Colleges, said that “in the middle of a recession and with less than a year to run to an election it’s unhelpful to introduce this degree of change in terms of ministerial responsibility.”

Nick Dusic of the Campaign for Science & Engineering warns that “science and engineering research and skills contribute to business and economic growth, but their contributions to the UK are also much wider. Lord Mandelson needs to clearly signal that investment in science and higher education will not be re-directed to support industrial priorities. There needs to be a consultation about developing strategies to commercialize science, which should include a proper debate about the implications of focusing research funding.”

Dusic’s concern is based on the reasons for creating DIUS in the first place. During the 1980s and 90s research funding was based in the Department of Trade and Industry, an agency similar to the new DIUS, and frequently subjected to financial fluctuations based on priorities elsewhere in the department.

“The department [DBIS] has a wide remit so it is more critical than ever that the science budget is ring-fenced so that is protected from spending problems in other areas,” he says.

Paul Guinnessy