The Chief Executive of the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Dr. Robert Parker, has welcomed the government's investment in science, which was announced in Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement. Dr. Parker, however, voiced concern at further budget cuts for already-stretched government departments.
The Chancellor's statement mentioned that the government is committing a further £600 million for capital investment in scientific research infrastructure. The government is investing an additional £980 million in building and improving schools, and a further £270 million to improve further education colleges.
According to Dr. Parker, at the last comprehensive spending review, capital spending was not included within the science budget ring-fence, effectively leading to a 40 percent cut. This extra investment will therefore be well-received by the scientific community and is a welcome follow-up to the Chancellor's commitment to science in his speech at the RSC last month, Dr. Parker added.
He further added that UK science had a strong record of achieving more with less but, while recent efforts by the government to increase science spending had been very welcome, small investments were not going to provide the resources that scientists needed to drive economic growth and should not come as a result of cuts elsewhere.
Further, he noted that the auction of the UK's 4G mobile spectrum was predicted to raise up to £4 billion. This money is a return on investment in science and technology, he pointed out, calling on the government to reinvest this money in science to deliver growth for the UK through a thriving, high-tech economy.
