Sarah Green column

Feb 6 2007 By Sarah Green, The Journal

Last week saw the National Science City Summit held in Newcastle which was attended by representatives from all six Science Cities and was opened with a speech by CBI director-general Richard Lambert.

Richard's key message was that the UK has under-invested in its science base for 30 years and risks being overtaken by international competitors unless it redoubles its efforts to reverse years of decline.

Speaking to business people, academics and politicians, including the Science Minister Malcolm Wicks, Richard said he "strongly championed" the UK's six Science Cities as a way of preventing economic stagnation and stemming a decline in the skills base.

If we consider the facts - the UK's research base has long been considered at the highest level in world rankings, second only to the US. This, though, has become an excuse for complacency and Britain has been under-investing in its science base for the last 30 years.

And it is starting to show. Developed countries like Japan and Germany are closing in fast and there are important new contenders in the emerging economies.

While the UK remains outstanding in most biology and biomedical fields, performance in chemistry, engineering and physics is relatively weak, and deteriorating. This Government has recognised the threat and stepped up research spending significantly. But there is a lot of ground to make up and a tough spending round to come.

There is a moral responsibility, in a globalising world with intensifying competition from low-cost economies, to recognise that the future for people without competitive skills is bleak. The UK has to put more vitality, more energy, more investment into science and innovation.

Higher education has expanded massively and there has been a culture change among academics who are now more willing to work with the outside world. Therefore, the UK is well placed to make breakthroughs and advances in research and innovation because it has a strong, cooperative multidisciplinary community of scientists and companies.

But to do this we need a government that recognises the importance of the science and innovation agenda. Richard called on Malcolm, the Science Minister, to "chain himself to Number 11 Downing Street in defence of the science settlement" in the current spending round. He replied in his speech on Friday saying he would make an "unlikely suffragette" and "it would be a very interesting career move".

But let's put this in perspective. Science needs investment and government needs to recognise this.

Sarah Green is regional director of CBI North-East.