Industrial Research in Great Britain

Abstract

THE Industrial Research Bill introduced into the House of Lords on November 29 by Lord Barnby was withdrawn after a speech by Lord Pakenham in which he indicated that although there was no active opposition to the principle of an enabling Bill, only about a dozen industries out of the eighty or ninety consulted by the Government on their postwar problems had indicated that they might take advantage of such legislation to finance any of the joint activities mentioned. Owing to the extreme pressure on parliamentary time during the present session, the Government would be unable to give facilities for the Bill; but whatever might be the position in the future, finance is not at present the main trouble. After referring to the announcement of the Lord President of the Council in his speech on November 6, Lord Pakenham emphasized that the Government appreciates that in some industries a statutory levy would give research associations the security of revenue necessary to allow them to plan useful long-term research and would have other advantages. Accordingly, the Government had the matter still much in mind, along with the allied question of statutory levies to finance other desirable co-operative activities. The Government does not wish to discourage industries which have plans under consideration from proceeding to work them out in detail, even if those plans will ultimately need statutory power to give effect to them. Emphasizing the importance which the Government attaches to a rapid improvement in the scientific basis of our industrial production, Lord Pakenham said that the Government could do a little to help in that matter; but primarily such improvement must depend on the willingness of industrialists themselves to devote resources to research, and it must depend still more on their willingness to exploit the results of scientific research.