25/04/06 Treasury
CaSE today met with Treasury officials to discuss current and emerging issues in science and engineering policy. "The meeting provided an opportunity for us to discuss with the Treasury some of the developments that emerged from the Budget, including changes to research assessment, plans to improve the teaching workforce, the integration of the Medical Research Council with the research budget of the National Health Service, and changes in innovation policy," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE. "But in particular, we focused on how the policy community can better advance its understanding of the costs, barriers and incentives to private sector investment in British research and development."

24/04/06 Support for a diverse science base
CaSE today welcomed the Trade Secretary's assurance that the reorganisation of science in Government would not threaten support for blue skies research. Speaking after the minister, Alan Johnson, gave evidence to the Science & Technology Committee of the House of Commons, the Director of CaSE, Dr Peter Cotgreave, said: "The Committee quizzed the Secretary of State on a number of issues that we have raised, one of which was whether the merger of the Office of Science & Technology with the Innovation Group would threaten the OST's support for fundamental research, and we were very happy to hear Mr Johnson rule this out. The fact is that all this stuff about reorganisation is fascinating if you're a science policy junkie, but the real issues are how the UK can raise its game in terms of science and engineering skills, and how to get more companies to invest more in British research and development. CaSE has a meeting at the Treasury tomorrow on just these issues."

20/04/06 Engineering skills
CaSE today called on the Government to tackle the long-term need for engineering skills in the UK. In an article in Innovation Policy Review, CaSE points out that the flurry of media interest about BAE's decision to sell its stake in Airbus died down when it become clear that British jobs were not under immediate threat, but the more important questions is why a company that depends crucially on engineering and technology is shifting its centre of gravity away from the UK. "Prominent among these factors is the issue of whether the UK can continue to provide the engineering and technolofy skilled needed by a range of companies," says the article, "with a quarter of secondary schools lacking a specialist physics teacher, a shortage of 3000 mathematics teachers and universities announcing the closure of their chemistry departments, that pipeline of science and engineering personnel is looking less and less certain."

10/04/06 Aerospace industry
CaSE today met representatives of the aerospace industry to discuss important science and engineering priorities for that sector of the economy. At a meeting at the Society of British Aerospace Companies, CaSE shared the results of its most recent Opinion Forums, and agreed to maintain links for the future. "The aerospace sector is very much in the news at the moment, with the sale of the British share of Airbus," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "and it employs thousands of engineers. The success of the country's economy depends in part on the success of the aerospace industry".

06/04/06 Finance & General Purposes Committee meeting at Tavistock Square

05/04/06 Science in Wales
CaSE today urged the Government of Wales to appoint a Chief Scientist, to coordinate its efforts in science education, to capitalise on its scientific strengths, and to talk more positively about Wales's scientific and engineering achievements. In its evidence to the First Minister's review of science policy, CaSE makes a strong argument that Wales could thrive if it focused its attention on science more effectively. "Most important of all," said Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of CaSE, "Wales should have a Chief Scientist who could coordinate policy and be a catalyst for making things happen."

read CaSE's evidence to the review

01/04/06 Schools and companies
CaSE today set out two of the main challenges for the Government in its Comprehensive Spending Review. In an article in Laboratory News, CaSE points out that if the UK is to thrive economically, it must meet the Chancellor of Exchequer's challenges and targets on science and technology. But to do so, the country will need to make vast improvements in its scientific education and encourage more scientific investment from the private sector. The article concludes that the Government "must make teaching science attractive for bright people and must make research investment attractive for bright companies".