Warnings on Daresbury science jobs sounded 10 months ago

Jan 17 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

CIVIL servants were warned about the loss of hundreds of North West science jobs months before budgets were finalised, it was revealed last night.

Whitehall officials knew that Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington would have to shed 350 jobs if a Government science council did not get sufficient funding.

They were also warned university grants would diminish – a move that has left Liverpool University’s Physics department £5m worse off.

But the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) still offered the Science and Technology Facilities Research Council (STFC) a budget with an £80m shortfall.

A city MP has said she is “deeply disturbed” by the revelations.

The dire financial straits also led the STFC to consider pulling out of Daresbury altogether.

During the negotiations leading up to November’s spending review, STFC management repeatedly warned the Government redundancies and grant cuts would be necessary to balance the budget.

Internal documents on the talks have been released under the Freedom of Information Act.

In a note, STFC head of corporate policy and evaluation, Chris Thompson, gives a running commentary on negotiations.

She says in March, July, September and November last year DIUS was told the proposed budget would mean “redundancy”, “decommissioning” and grants being cut.

By November, she was telling civil servants the budget came with “a significant health warning”.

A note headed “in strict confidence” drawn up by STFC chief executive Keith Mason on November 28, 2007, listed cost saving options.

One of them is titled “close/handover Daresbury” and appears to say the council could save around £15m a year.

Both STFC and DIUS say they remain committed to developing Daresbury as a science campus.

And quizzed at prime minister's questions by Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall yesterday, Gordon Brown said he was "very proud" of work at Daresbury.

A spokesperson for STFC said: “Clearly it is a major facility for us.

“The organisation is committed to developing the campus and bringing in new investing companies there.

“In no way is it something that we want to reduce in capacity.”

But leading scientists say they are concerned cuts – which will reduce the staff of more than 500 to 140 – will make the site less attractive to investors.

Daresbury physicist Graeme Clark said: “The STFC plans seem to be for a reduced activity of this site and is that sufficient to bring in the private sector?

“That’s the question and I don’t know the answer.”

Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman is demanding to know how much ministers knew of the impacts of the plans.

She said: “I find this deeply disturbing. You can’t allow vitally important physics departments to be harmed like this.”

The STFC budget was passed by ministers in December.

It gave the council a 13.6% increase over the next three years but scientists argue it is 8% over that period, just 0.3% above inflation.

Since the budget was agreed, STFC have asked volunteers for redundancy.

A DIUS spokesperson said: “Given that each of the research councils spend large sums of public money, ministers do sign off delivery plans before they are finalised.

“However, there is the long- established Haldane principle that ministers would not intervene directly in the allocation decisions of research councils and would only do so where wider issues of national importance are involved.”

What the FOI document revealed > > >