Science Capital Spend inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) invests in science to support economic growth and improve national productivity. Capital spending on science projects was £1.1 billion in 2014–15, and this will be maintained every year up to 2021. However, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), the department needs to develop a more systematic and informed approach to investing in science projects. The Department's £1.1 billion expenditure covers major national projects such as supercomputers and oceanographic research ships, capital for large national research facilities such as particle accelerators and the UK's participation in international programmes such as the European Space Agency. It also covers capital funding allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for laboratories and research facilities in universities. National Audit Office findings The NAO found that the Department's processes for sifting project proposals and taking investment decisions have not been supported by good information. BIS has had to quickly identify projects to invest in when extra funding has become available at short notice but has not had a structured plan to help it do this. BIS has subsequently consulted with the research community to identify priorities for investment, but it did not have good quality information to assess and sift the resulting proposals. More recently approved business cases have lacked key analysis, such as information on what projects could cost to run or assurance on how ongoing costs will be funded. Running costs of science infrastructure can be substantial. BIS has committed £3.2 billion of capital expenditure to 56 projects since the NAO previously reported on science projects in 2007, and the NAO estimates that these projects may cost some £2 billion to run between 2015–16 and 2020–21.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills lacks a clear and consistent selection process and structured plan for prioritising potential capital investments and is, therefore, at risk of not selecting the right projects. Furthermore, its decisions to invest in science projects have not been firmly grounded in robust analysis such as a consideration of alternative options or locations, the ongoing costs of running projects and how the Department and its research councils will track the delivery of potential benefits. Proposed organisational changes to the Research Councils, and to the Higher Education Funding Council for England following the recent White Paper, may create opportunities for investment in science. However, the changes will also create risks that the Department will need to manage carefully.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from 27 April 2016 to its close on 4 January 2018.
- Oral evidence 27 Apr 2016
- Report 29 Jun 2016
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 5th Report - Capital investment in science projects ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 27 Apr 2016No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗