Professor John WomersleyChief Executive, Science & Technology Facilities Council

February 2013

Over the past year

• New management in place at STFC• Major Projects delivered

– E-infrastructure, Catapult, ELI,…• Scientific Successes

– Higgs!– KMOS, first light with DES, Diamond 10th anniversary…

• Continued momentum– ESA at Harwell, SKA, Hartree Centre

STFC Impact Report2012

Triennial ReviewDavid Willetts announced the launch of the Triennial Review of the Research Councils in a Written Ministerial Statement on 9 January

The review is a Cabinet Office initiative and will be conducted in two stages:• Stage 1 will assess the core functions of the Research Councils, the need

for these functions to continue and the structural options for continued delivery of these functions.

• If the conclusions of Stage 1 are that the Research Councils should continue as NDPBs, Stage 2 will examine corporate governance.

• BIS aims to complete Stage 1 of the review within six months and anticipates producing a report and conclusions of the whole review by early September

This is not a review of the policy of funding basic research, to which the Government remains committed

Triennial Review - continued

Overall Programme/Project Management

• Ceri Smith, Richard Ney, Helen Huxtable

Core Review Team

• Paula Croft – EPSRC and RCUK• Bill Wells - Economic Analysis• Vivien Brighton - MRC• Iain Mansfield – STFC• Sarah Tyrell – AHRC and ESRC• Isobel Pastor – NERC

Triennial Review - continued

• Cabinet Office put a lot of store in the views of stakeholders

• Meetings with key stakeholders set up over February, including the Chairs and CEOs of the Research Councils; Government; businesses; UK Charities and National Academies; and Select Committees. The panel is seeking meetings with other key stakeholders from Universities, TSB and HEFCE, and the International Community

Triennial Review - continued

• Review team are hosting roundtable discussions on 6 and 8 March and attending a number of external group stakeholder discussions.

• 'Call for Evidence' is on the BIS website https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/triennial-review-of-the-research-councils-call-for-evidence

Triennial Review – why should you care?

• Need to recommend some change (“a pound of flesh”)– Previous reviews of this type led to creation of RCUK and SSC

• Review is asking fundamental questions about how research is funded in the UK– How many research councils?– How should they be governed?

This will affect you all!

Spending review

• There will not be a full CSR until after the election• The 2013 Budget will announce a Spending Review to set

budget levels for 2015/16

• It is expected that the overall envelope for financial year 15/16 will be announced, at the level of the settlement for individual departments. The total BIS budget (including the Science and Research budget) will likely be announced, but no more detail within that.

• There will then be a process following the Budget to decide spend for 15/16 within departmental allocations. (this includes the Science and Research budget within the BIS allocation)

• The starting point for the 15/16 budgets for departments is that they will continue along their present trajectory (for capital, resource and admin). This means further cuts to the overall BIS budget, and does not prejudge what will happen to the Science and Research budget within that, although the starting point would presumably be continued flat cash.

News on spending review - continued

• Demonstrating efficiency and linkage to economic growth will continue to be essential.

• There is unlikely to be significant additional capital/resource spend announced in the spring Budget.

News on spending review - continued

Government context• Deterioration in public finances over

past year• National debt £1.1 trillion predicted to

rise to £1.4 trillion by 2014• Bank of England cut growth forecast• ONS data shows that public borrowing

has exceeded official estimates for every month this financial year

• Budget deficit up on last year

Total Research Council funding2011 - 2015

Baseline 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-150

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

2010 Comprehensive Spending Review

we are

here

Spending Review to set budget for 2015/16

Implications of CSR10

• Flat cash was relatively good result • But inflation is well above 2% target, power costs,

unexpected additional charges (CRC tax, OA publishing)…• Two years in

– 4.4% loss of purchasing power to end of 2012/13• Another two years

– Additional 5% or £26 million

Impact of Flat Cash

• BIS sponsor team suggested we model 2 more years flat cash• The results are not pretty

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-170

10

20

30

40

50

60

International Subs UK FacilitiesCore Programme Administration

£m

Loss of purchasing power

SummaryTriennial Review• Take it seriously – it’s asking fundamental questions and is likely

to propose changeshttps://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/triennial-review-of-the-research-councils-call-for-evidence

Spending Review for 2015/16• Another year of flat cash will be very tough; reduced funding

even worse• We’ve been working hard to be ready – but it won’t be easy

Most important thing we should all be doing is selling the excellence and importance of our science