'Back door' cuts could harm economy, says Labour
The government has been warned that it is in danger of hindering Britain's economic growth after figures revealed that severe spending cuts are being imposed on science charities.
David Cameron is accused of introducing cuts through the back door after giving an assurance earlier this year that the science budget would not face any cuts.
The main cuts, announced in parliamentary written answers shortly before the House of Commons broke up for Christmas, show that:
• A charity which promotes opportunities for women in science is losing 80% of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Funding to the UK Resource Centre (UKRC) for women in science, engineering and technology is being cut from £2.4m last year to £500,000 this year.
• The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network (Stemnet), which promotes the teaching of science among young people, is seeing its funding from the Department for Education (DfE) cut from £2.2m to £1.5m. It is facing a more modest cut in its funding from BIS – down to £6.3m from £6.8m.
• The British Science Association, which was established in 1831 to make the sciences more accessible, is facing a 56% cut in its funding from the DfE. Funding is being cut from £581,289 last year to £250,000 this year. The association faces a more modest cash increase from BIS, which funds all science charities via the knowledge and innovation group. The British Science Association is receiving £1.530m this year from BIS compared with £1.526 last year.
• The Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based Life Science Centre, which houses the largest planetarium in the north of England, is losing all of its £48,756 funding from the DfE.
Labour said the cuts raised questions about Cameron's commitment made on 17 August, during a visit to the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus in Cheshire, that the science budget would not face cuts. The prime minister said: "We actually decided not to cut the science budget, to maintain the science budget. I think this is a good justification of that – those science-based businesses and jobs we need in the future."
Gareth Thomas, the shadow minister for civil society, said: "Despite David Cameron's pledge to protect the science budget, these are cuts to science funding by the back door. Science is fundamental to Britain's economic future – cutting funding to science charities will inevitably hinder economic growth and shows the danger of cutting spending too far and too fast."
Thomas said that research by the House of Commons library showed that the science research budget has been cut by 15% in real terms over the three-year spending period of 2011-12 to 2013-14. This compares with an 8% increase in Germany and a 1% increase in France.
The government is introducing modest cash increases and less severe cuts in funding to other science organisations. The Institute of Physics is receiving £1.3m from the DfE this year compared with £1m last year. Mathematics in Education and Industry is receiving £1.5m this year compared with £1.47m last year.
The Royal Society has seen its funding cut from £48.5m to £47.8m. The Royal Academy of Engineering is facing a cut from £12.8m to £12.6m. Science funding from BIS is provided through the Knowledge and Innovation Group.