Scientists: Working in the United Kingdom
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)
As I said in answer to an earlier question, I am keen to make sure we have a robust system to attract the best talent from all over the world—this is not targeted at any particular place—and I will make announcements about that very shortly. In the immigration White Paper, the routes for a global talent visa are specifically pulled out as ones that will become easier. They will be facilitated to make this happen, as will those in other highly skilled areas. There are measures in the White Paper that make that easier for the highly skilled individuals we need both for the research sector and, indeed, the tech sector and companies.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, I am sure my noble friend is aware of the large number of charities that support research that brings overseas senior academics to the UK. I mention the Royal Society Wolfson Fellowships; Weizmann UK, which brings scientists from the Weizmann in Israel to the UK; and a large number of others. They contribute enormously to our science space.
Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)
I thank my noble friend. He is quite right; there are a number of schemes from charities and, indeed, as I have said, from the academies. Over £200 million of funding goes to the national academies to support their core activities. The vast majority of that is spent on research and talent schemes. Some £400 million was given to the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering as an endowment for their specific fellowship schemes—the Faraday Discovery Fellowships, and, for engineers, the Green Future Fellowships. There are many charities that also contribute, and we are fortunate in this country to have charities, including the Wellcome Trust, that provide substantial funding for fellowship schemes.
Medical Research Techniques
Lord Turnberg Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Viscount Camrose (Con)
DSIT continues to be led on its approach to creating non-animal methods in clinical trials, toxicology trials and so on by the UK’s NC3Rs—the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research—for toxicology and other scientific research, and that continues. There was a decrease of 10% in animal testing from the previous year, according to our most recent records, and that will continue. DSIT meanwhile has no plans to add a new oversight executive body to those already in existence.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, I express an interest as a past chairman of NC3Rs. During the time I was chairman, we saw a marked reduction in the number of animals used in research, and that continues with certain types of animals, such as dogs, cats and so on. It is essential, though, for new drugs to be tested on animals and regulatory authorities rely on that. Is there anything we can do to help those authorities relax a little?
Viscount Camrose (Con)
First, let me pay tribute to the work of the NC3Rs, which is an extremely important body. Nobody feels comfortable doing a lot of animal tests; they simply are necessary for human safety in too many cases. For example, UK REACH follows the last-resort principle where, as far as possible, it is able to waive animal tests for chemicals. That kind of work will further accelerate the work of the NC3Rs.