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The British government appears set to press ahead with plans to introduce some form of private management of its Defence Research Agency (DERA), against the advice of the House of Commons defence select committee.

In a long-awaited review of Britain's defence policy — the Strategic Defence Review, published last week — the government does not rule out further private-sector involvement in defence research.

The review was released a day after the defence select committee, in its own report on DERA, warned the government against inviting private companies to manage DERA and its affiliated agencies, such as the chemical and biological defence establishment at Porton Down.

But the government's review fails to provide any additional detail on DERA's future beyond what is known already. Ministers have said the agency's fate lies somewhere between total privatization and the status quo, in which it remains part of the Ministry of Defence and is run by the government.

One set of alternatives would involve allowing private companies to manage DERA, or its affiliated organizations, and activities. This arrangement would be similar to other government-owned but privately managed laboratories, such as the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington.

A second alternative is a ‘public-private partnership’, in which a facility or service is paid for by the private sector, with the government paying for the cost of use. The recently announced supercomputer service for UK academics will be provided in this way (see Nature 394, 114; 1998).

A privately run DERA, the select committee report says, could damage DERA's relations with industry. At present, the agency is seen to be impartial in the work it performs and the advice it gives, both to industry and government. Private-sector management could change that, as the agency will continue to compete with industry for the Ministry of Defence's research programmes.

International research collaboration could also be a casualty of increasing private-sector involvement in DERA, according to the report. Committee members say the US government, for example, is keen on transatlantic research cooperation.

The members also conclude in the report that international collaboration “would be seriously at risk if privatization of DERA proceeded.” Julian Brazier (Conservative, Canterbury), a member of the select committee, says that “the committee's message is very clear: leave DERA alone.”