19/11/08 Research Fortnight - Interview
Paul Drayson is a businessman with a chequered past and a hot line to the Prime Minister. Hannah Devlin finds the new science minister bursting with evangelical zeal.
With the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report due next week, many ministers are publicly hedging their bets on how the government should act to avert economic meltdown. But a month into the job, science minister Paul Drayson is unequivocal: “It's very important that we maintain the increase in research funding through this downturn.”
Drayson says there has been a “real renaissance” in science on the back of research council spending, which has more than doubled in the past decade: “It's vitally important that we maintain that track over this period of economic uncertainty and I'll be pushing very hard for that.”
Such confidence suits his role as the first science minister to be awarded Cabinet status. He is also a member of Gordon Brown's influential National Economic Council, which was created last month to tackle the financial crisis. And he will chair a new Cabinet committee for science and innovation. As Drayson himself reflects: “The way in which I've been appointed as science minister reflects more oomph being put behind the science agenda.”
Drayson would not be “overly prescriptive”, he says, about where additional funding is directed. But he does endorse the view of former chief scientific adviser, David King, that there should be more strategic focus on “global challenges”, such as climate change, energy security and ageing.
Drayson says he is keen to promote European science collaboration as long as clearly defined shared goals exist. “I learnt when I was at the [Ministry of Defence] that pan-European projects can be very effective if there is a real coincidence of views about what the objectives of the project are,” he says. “The problem can come when people act as though it's just a generally good thing for people across Europe to work together and the focus around the aims of the project gets lost.”
He cites the Large Hadron Collider as “a great example” of where it makes sense to collaborate, and he envisages that efforts on a comparable scale will be necessary to tackle energy security issues: “There are real challenges around energy that are going to require a similar pan-European response.”
At home, he says, the pursuit of “global challenges” is already evident in the creation of the Technology Strategy Board, through which “we're making strategic bets on what areas of science and technology we need to make those investments in.” A current priority is the publication of the UK's annual innovation report, which will provide a snapshot of the level of innovation in public and private sectors.
At the same time, Drayson is keen to avoid being typecast as a scientist-cum-businessman: “I know people will look at my CV and jump to the conclusion I'm going to be interested in applied research, only.” He refutes this suggestion: “I know from my own experience that pure research is as important as applied research in making sure that the strength of the science base is maintained.”
Perhaps with this in mind, Drayson has taken on the mantle of national science ambassador with a boisterous enthusiasm that is already raising the public-as well as the political-profile of the subject. “I think that a key part of my job is to be a champion for science, to excite young people about the excellent careers they can have if they pursue science at school and university. I've had a fantastic life myself because that's what I did and I encourage others to try it.”
His outspoken approach - specifically, his public endorsement of putting a British astronaut in space - has also caused some controversy. The comments on space, made on his second day in office, were seen as overstepping the official government position. This led his Conservative shadow, Adam Afriyie, to brand him “reckless” [see RF 22/10/08]. Drayson laughs off the charge. He maintains that space has a particular ability to motivate young people. But he says he will await the conclusions of a review on space commissioned by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills that is due out at the end of the year, before making any decisions.
Drayson's position on space has also attracted some criticism for seeming to suggest that research should be funded on the basis of its popular appeal rather than on the basis of scientific excellence. “We shouldn't be deciding what to do on the basis of what the science minister finds exciting. Science policy is more complicated than that,” one policy analyst told Research Fortnight.
But Drayson says that motivating future generations is a valid consideration: “I think it is very important to take into account what inspires people. It's not the only factor, obviously, but it's a very important one.”
The UK's current policy of not funding manned space-flight is also leading to the UK's best space scientists moving abroad, according to Drayson. He describes being struck by the number of British scientists working at the NASA Ames Centre in California, which he visited last month: “I think although very few people have the opportunity to be considered for an astronaut programme, if you're interested in space it puts a glass ceiling on Britain's ability to go right to the top within this field.&dquo;
Drayson says he will use his membership of the economic council to push for measures that will help hi-tech sectors weather the financial crisis. This, he says, will be an essential follow-up to the government's short-term response, focused on the banking sector: “The government, having shown real leadership in the first-order effects of the banking and liquidity crisis, now needs to address very rapidly the second-order effects.”
Drayson says he is currently assessing the challenges posed by difficult market conditions. He cites, for instance, the reluctance of many banks to lend to small businesses: “We're talking to the banks to understand what it is that's causing barriers to them providing normal lending terms.” For its part, he says, the government has already revised its terms of business to help preserve cash flow for small businesses, and promised to settle invoices within 10 days, instead of 30.
According to Drayson, hi-tech jobs will be fundamental to the UK's competitiveness in the long-term, and he is quick to re-iterate the words of Royal Society president Martin Rees:“unless we get smarter, we'll get poorer.”
But despite a belief in the importance of science to business, he does not agree with Peter Mandelson's suggestion last month that government responsibility for science should have stayed in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, which Mandelson now runs [see RF 5/11/08]. Drayson argues that science sits better within DIUS. “I think it is very important for government to have a real focus on science and the process by which innovation, both in the public and private sectors, takes place,” he says. ”When it was part of the [Department of Trade and Industry], it was a smaller proportion of the department and therefore did not have that focus.”
He says that the creation of DIUS - as well as the decision to include the science minister in cabinet - were “very sensible moves to make sure that the government is properly prioritising science and the process of wealth creation from science in everything that it does.”
Within DIUS, Drayson says he won't be developing radically new policies but will focus on putting existing ones into action. “I think my role is not to come up with new policies, which I think my predecessors, in particular David Sainsbury and Ian Pearson, have done an excellent job on. My job is to put more effort into the effective implementation of those policies.”