Ministerial Review of STFC

Science Minister Lord Drayson has today spelled out new arrangements for the Science and Technology Facilities Council designed to ensure that it can plan with greater predictability and provide its community with more stability. These will include better management of pressures arising from international subscriptions (such as CERN), and longer-term planning and budgeting for large domestic facilities (such as Diamond). These two measures will address the two main sources of uncertainty STFC faces.

Following STFC’s reprioritisation exercise establishing the Council’s funding priorities in December 2009, Lord Drayson undertook to work with Professor Michael Sterling, STFC’s Chairman, to resolve structural issues putting undue pressure on the Council’s finances.

Lord Drayson said: “There is no doubt STFC faced a difficult situation. A lot of work has gone in to finding ways of preventing such pressures rearing their heads again in future. The better management of international subscriptions through measures to manage exchange rates, and longer-term planning and budgeting for large domestic facilities will allow STFC’s grant-giving functions to be managed with a higher degree of predictability. The community has come out strongly in support of grants remaining with STFC to deliver investment continuity from facility design through to exploitation, and I accept this argument. These measures will allow the Council to pursue the programme it set out in December within its budget.”

For the remainder of this spending review, 2010/11, the Department expects to continue to provide STFC with a level of protection similar to that which has been provided this year and last in respect of the additional costs of international subscriptions due to exchange rate changes.

From the next spending review onwards (beginning financial year 2011/12) BIS is looking at options for managing the currency risks better. BIS is working closely with the Bank of England on how to reduce the exposure of the STFC.

These measures will allow STFC to plan ahead confidently without fear that sudden movements in the value of sterling could adversely impact other areas it is responsible for.

Professor Michael Sterling said: "STFC delivers world leading science and technology of real benefit to the UK, but has been hampered by structural issues since its creation. The Minister's decisions will enable STFC to move forward with greater financial confidence, removing the risk of foreign exchange impacts, and securing a longer term funding arrangement for our big science facilities.

“The Council and management of STFC have also taken the opportunity of the review to re-examine our engagement with our scientific and other stakeholders. We remain committed to further improvements in our processes and systems."

From 2011/12, RCUK will work with STFC to agree the availability and support requirements for our large domestic facilities, Diamond, the Central Laser Facility and ISIS, at the beginning of each CSR period, with indicative planning covering the subsequent spending period, a total of some six years. The funding for the delivery of these agreed requirements will be allocated separately to STFC by BIS starting from the beginning of the next spending round, 1st April 2011, and will be managed independently from the remainder of its budget allocation. This will further increase STFC’s planning ability and will separate the funding of these facilities from STFC’s grant-giving function.

Professor Douglas Kell, RCUK Research and Development Group Champion commented: “These large facilities serve the needs of a wide range of researchers operating across a number of different fields. The new funding model will provide greater clarity and certainty in the funding of these facilities whilst retaining the scope for making sensible changes in the light of actual demand.”

Finally, it is anticipated that the UK’s subscription to the European Space Agency will in future be managed by a UK Space Agency. This would bring together in one body those representing the UK at ESA and those footing the bill for it. Uniting these functions will enhance the UK’s capability to negotiate the best possible deal for Britain while safe-guarding STFC’s grant giving functions from future fluctuations in space subscriptions.

Notes to Editors

This statement is also available on the BIS website (link opens in a new window).

Research Councils UK (RCUK) have also issued a statement (link opens in a new window).

Lord Drayson announced a review of the structure of STFC (link opens in a new window) on 16 December as he welcomed the STFC re-prioritisation exercise.

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