london

A move by the British government to revive its senior advisory panel on research policy has been welcomed by science policy experts, who hope the revamped panel will improve on its previously moribund performance.

Margaret Beckett, president of the Board of Trade, announced last week that the Council for Science and Technology will be reconstituted with a large independent membership of 14 and a broad but clearly defined mandate. It will be chaired by Beckett, with Sir Robert May, the government's chief scientific adviser, serving as deputy chair.

The new mandate requires the council to advise the prime minister on strategic matters, such as the international benchmarking of UK research and the implications of public spending plans. The council will publish an annual report, and will “normally” publish its advice to the government; the old council did not publish its work, and its members were not even publicly identified.

John Mulvey, director of the pressure group Save British Science, says his group welcomes the changes: “It looks likely to be a much more effective body than the previous council.”

But others point out that the proposed reform falls short of a proposal made last year by the Dearing Commission on Higher Education for a new body, with an independent chair, to advise on research policy. They also suggest that a panel headed by Beckett may carry little weight outside her department.

In a separate move, the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, chaired by Michael Clark, is gathering evidence for an inquiry into the UK science advisory system which it plans to complete by the autumn.