B41;297;0cOn Mon, 21 Mar 2016, Sheila Peacock wrote:
> The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE,
> to which both our parent societies belong) has written a
> letter to the government about the Cabinet Office's adding
> a clause, from May this year, to prevent government-funded
> research grants from being used to "lobby for new regulation
> or more government funding". An article on the clause and
> CaSE's (widely shared) concerns has been published
Dear Sheila (and everyone),
I've looked into this a bit further. As a result, I now think one can
make a respectable case that the Cabinet Office will be breaking the
law if it tries to force HEFCE, HEFCW, NERC and/or EPSRC to include
the "no lobbying" clause in their grant agreements.
The relevant phrases in applicable statute law are:
For HEFCE and HEFCW: 'the carrying on of any other activities, by
higher education institutions in their area which the governing bodies
of those institutions consider it necessary or desirable to provide or
carry on for the purpose of or in connection with education or
research', in section 65(2)(b) of the Further and Higher Education Act
1992.
For NERC: 'the... support of... the provision of advice on matters
related to the Council's activities', in section 1(3) of the Science and
Technology Act 1965.
For EPSRC: 'to promote and support, by any means', in paragraph (a) of
the Schedule to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Order 1994, and 'to provide advice', in paragraph (c) of the same schedule.
I would guess that there are similar clauses in statute law for the
other research councils, and probably for many more public-sector
grant-awarding bodies besides.
--
Kind regards,
Dan Hatton
Dr. Daniel C. Hatton
Lecturer
Mechanical and Marine Engineering Subject Group
Autonomous Marine Systems Research Group
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
Address: School of Marine Science and Engineering,
Plymouth University,
Drake Circus,
Plymouth,
UK.
PL4 8AA
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