An influential committee of UK politicians has accused the government of failing to provide an adequate level of funding to sustain the country's science research.

Although the overall science budget is set to increase by 17.5% by 2011, changes within the structure mean that the actual amount of funded research will decline, charges the report from the cross-party House of Commons science select committee. That's because the budget will also need to pay for new bodies, such as the Technology Strategy Board, as well as the full economic costs of research. “We are concerned that the government has failed to protect both the existing and planned research base,” says the report.

The report also has harsh words for the Science and Technology Facilities Council, which distributes research funding for physics. It says that the formation of the council in 2007 from the merger of two previous councils was “untimely and poorly conceived”, and that there are weaknesses in the council's peer-review system and management. The committee concludes that “substantial and urgent changes” are needed.