Members of an influential parliamentary committee, which serves as a watchdog on UK science policy, are protesting over a planned government reorganization that they fear would subsume it into a larger committee.

Under the plans, the Select Committee on Science and Technology would become part of the newly created Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which is responsible for science now that Gordon Brown is prime minister (see Nature 448, 7; 2007). Members worry that the new committee would be mainly concerned with university administration.

The science select committee, consisting of members of the three main political parties, is well known for overseeing the government's policy on issues ranging from illegal drugs to the proposed national identity-card scheme. Earlier this year, it also successfully campaigned to overturn the government's proposed ban on hybrid embryo research.

Given the current high public profile of science, now is “the wrong time to downgrade or reduce the scrutiny of cross-cutting science issues within parliament”, committee chair Phil Willis wrote in a letter to Geoff Hoon, the government's chief whip. “The strong view amongst the science community is that such scrutiny is best carried out by a select committee with a clear identity and a clear mission.”

It's a pity that the name 'science' has been lost because it will reduce its profile. That's the danger.

Another committee member, Evan Harris, added: “The problem is that a committee that covers universities and skills is not going to have time to scrutinize science across the government.” It would be preferable, he says, for a dedicated, independent science committee to continue with the remit of the current one.

Harris raised the possibility in parliamentary questions on 12 July. House of Commons leader Harriet Harman replied that “discussions are ongoing”. Harris told Nature that the committee's ideal position would be to remain as an independent entity, rather than become a subcommittee within the new department.

Critics of the government's reshuffle have pointed out that the new department, although responsible for overseeing science, does not even feature the word 'science' in its title. “It's a pity that the name 'science' has been lost because it will reduce its profile. That's the danger,” says Harris.

Previously, scientific research came under the remit of the Office of Science and Innovation, within the Department of Trade and Industry.