Science and Technology Select Committee
The Science and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The original Science and Technology Committee was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee on 6 November 2007. However, just 19 months later, the government announced that it was re-establishing the committee following the recommendation of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee[1] after the merging of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in June 2009. The House of Commons approved the re-establishment of the committee on 25 June 2009.[2] The committee was officially re-established on 1 October 2009 and has a remit to examine the work of the Government Office for Science. The committee currently scrutinises the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, headed by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma. The current minister of science is Amanda Solloway.
21st Report - Balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending
Terms of Reference[3]
In May 2018, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) published its Strategic Prospectus, which represents “the beginning of the process to develop a detailed Research and Innovation Strategy”. It states that “We will work with Government to develop a plan for meeting this target [to increase the UK’s investment in research and development to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and in the future to 3%, maximising the impact of public investment in research and innovation, and supporting business and other partners to invest more.” It envisages ongoing work on “what constitutes reasonable balance” of its funding. Against that background, the Committee undertook an inquiry on the balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending.
Membership
2020 to present
The Right Honourable Greg Clark was elected as the new chair in the 58th parliament in January 2020.[4] He defeated fellow Conservative MP Stephen Metcalfe.
| Member | Party | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Clark MP (Chair) |
Conservatives | Tunbridge Wells | |
| Aaron Bell MP | Conservative | Newcastle-under-Lyme | |
| Dawn Butler MP | Labour | Brent Central | |
| Chris Clarkson MP | Conservative | Heywood & Middleton | |
| Katherine Fletcher MP | Conservative | South Ribble | |
| Andrew Griffith MP | Conservative | Arundel and South Downs | |
| Darren Jones MP (Chair of BEISC) |
Labour | Bristol North West | |
| Carol Monaghan MP | SNP | Glasgow North West | |
| Graham Stringer MP | Labour | Blackley and Broughton | |
| Zarah Sultana MP | Labour | Coventry South | |
2017-2019
The Committee's Chair, Sir Norman Lamb, was announced on 12 July 2017[5][6] The Chair and Members of the Committee in the 2017-2019 Parliament were:
Members in the (2014/15) session of Parliament were as follows:
| Member | Party | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Miller MP (Chair) | Labour | Ellesmere Port and Neston | |
| Jim Dowd MP | Labour | Lewisham West and Penge | |
| Stephen Metcalfe MP | Conservative | South Basildon and East Thurrock | |
| David Morris MP | Conservative | Morecambe and Lunesdale | |
| Stephen Mosley MP | Conservative | City of Chester | |
| Sarah Newton MP | Conservative | Truro and Falmouth | |
| Pamela Nash MP | Labour | Airdrie and Shotts | |
| Graham Stringer MP | Labour | Blackley and Broughton | |
| David Tredinnick MP | Conservative | Bosworth | |
| Hywel Williams MP | Plaid Cymru | Arfon | |
| Roger Williams MP | Liberal Democrat | Brecon and Radnorshire | |
Source: Science and Technology Committee
Changes
Occasionally, the House of Commons orders changes to be made in terms of membership of select committees, as proposed by the Committee of Selection. Such changes are shown below.
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party |
Constituency | → | New Member & Party |
Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 February 2011 | Alok Sharma MP (Conservative) | Reading West | → | Stephen McPartland MP (Conservative) | Stevenage | Hansard | ||
| 27 February 2012 | Gavin Barwell MP (Conservative) | Croydon Central | → | Caroline Dinenage MP (Conservative) | Gosport | Hansard | ||
| Stephen McPartland MP (Conservative) | Stevenage | Gareth Johnson MP (Conservative) | Dartford | |||||
| David Morris MP (Conservative) | Morecambe and Lunesdale | Sarah Newton MP (Conservative) | Truro and Falmouth | |||||
| Gregg McClymont MP (Labour) | Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East |
→ | Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru) | Arfon | ||||
| 11 June 2012 | Jonathan Reynolds MP (Labour Co-op) | Stalybridge and Hyde | → | Jim Dowd MP (Labour) | Lewisham West and Penge | Hansard | ||
| 3 December 2012 | Gareth Johnson MP (Conservative) | Dartford | → | David Morris MP (Conservative) | Morecambe and Lunesdale | Hansard | ||
| 4 February 2013 | Caroline Dinenage MP (Conservative) | Gosport | → | David Tredinnick MP (Conservative) | Bosworth | Hansard | ||
See also
- Parliamentary Committees of the United Kingdom
- Science and Technology Committee (House of Lords)
- Science and technology
References
- UK Parliament - MPs call for government to establish a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee following DIUS/BERR merger
- House of Commons Debates 25 June 2009
- "Balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending inquiry launched - News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Greg Clark elected as Chair of Science and Technology Select Committee - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- "Membership - Science and Technology Committee". UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- "Science and Technology Committee - membership". UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
External links
- Records of the Science and Technology Committee are held in the Parliamentary Archives
- Science and Technology Committee (Commons) web page
