The Scottish Government released their spending plans for the next three years. £566.2 million will be spent over the next three years on delivering the Scottish Rural Development Programme which focuses on improving rural business production, climate change, water quality and landscape and biodiversity. £44.5 million will be invested into protecting Scotland’s marine environment and establishing a Scottish Marine Management Partnership. £70million per annum will be spent on research to support decisions made by policymakers and practitioners and a further £2million a year will be invested in climate change research.

The Natural Environment Research Council launched Next Generation Science for Planet Earth, their new science strategy. NERC’s strategic goal is to deliver world-leading environmental research at the frontiers of knowledge:

• enabling society to respond urgently to global climate change and the increasing
  pressures on natural resources
• contributing to UK leadership in predicting the regional and local impacts of environmental change from days to decades
• creating and supporting vibrant, integrated research communities.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution wants your views to help set the scope of its next study on Adapting the UK to Climate Change. The issues the RCEP is considering include biodiversity, disease, invasive species and land use. The RCEP would like input before 25 January 2008. The BES will be responding.

Ian Pearson MP, Minister for Science, has called for a new vision for science and society. His suggestion is:

A Society that is excited about science, values its importance to our economic and social well-being, feels confident in its use, and supports a representative, well-qualified scientific workforce.

The DIUS (old DTI page on BERR website) would like views and ideas about developing its new vision before 24 December 2007. The DIUS aims to publish a refreshed vision and strategy for action, which can be published for consultation during National Science & Engineering Week in March 2008.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is consulting on proposed revisions to Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and ban on the sale of certain non-native species. Defra has proposals to both add and remove species from Schedule 9, which aims to control the release of invasive non-native species into the wild. The consultation also proposes that a number of non-native species should not be allowed to be sold in the UK, because of the economic and environmental damage they cause. Defra would like to have comments on the list of species recommended for inclusion/exclusion on the relevant lists. The consultation closes on 31 January 2008.

The House of Common’s Select Committee on Science and Technology has been replaced by the Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee. The Science and Technology Committee has published its Last Report. The Committee recommended that the House of Commons should consider creating a Science and Technology Committee at the end of the 2007-2008 session. It recommended that the new Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee should:

• change its title to include science, as should the DIUS;
• look at cross-departmental science policy issues;
• consider how it will scrutinize the work of Research Councils;
• continue the Science Question Time, which improved ministerial scrutiny;
• consider how ‘evidence’ is used by select committees.

• The new Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee will be responsible for examining the work of DIUS which includes further education, higher education and skills and the Government Office of Science. The members of the Committee are Adam Afriyie, Nadine Dorries, Dr Ian Gibson, Dr Evan Harris, Dr Brian Iddon, Graham Stringer, Dr Desmond Turner, Gordon Marsden, Bob Spink, Ian Stewart, Ian Cawsey, Phil Willis, Rob Wilson and Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods.
• The Children, Schools and Families Committee replaces the former Education and Skills Committee. The new committee will analyse the administration, expenditure and policy of the DCFS, including educational curriculum. The members of the committee are Barry Sheerman, Douglas Carswell, David Chaytor, Fiona Mactaggart, Andrew Pelling, Graham Stuart, Dawn Butler, Annette Brooke, John Heppell, Maria Miller, Joan Ryan, Andy Slaughter, Lynda Waltho and Stephen Williams.