Following the publication of the important House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology's report "Investigating the Oceans" in October 2007, the official Government response was published on 9 January 2008 and can be found at
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/ius/itogovtresp.cfm
Unfortunately, this response falls far short of endorsing the key proposals contained in the Select Committee Report, which you will recall included far reaching recommendations for the organisation and funding of UK marine science and technology; and a call for the creation of a new marine science agency to oversee a national marine science strategy and a new overarching plan for the oceans. To refresh your memory, the Committee's "Investigating the Oceans" report can be found at
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmsctech/470/470i.pdf
For example in the official response:
- The Government does not support the formation of an agency, but instead proposes a Marine Science Coordinating Committee (MSCC) to replace IACMST
- This proposed replacement for the IACMST has no defined ministerial reporting line
- No independent or industry representation is envisaged on the proposed Marine Science Coordination Committee
- Whilst the need for a UK Marine Strategy is acknowledged, the proposed coordinating arrangements would seem to suffer similar deficiencies to those that the Select Committee identified in the present arrangements
The House of Commons Select Committee has invited comments on the Government response by
4 February 2008; The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) will be providing a coordinated response from across the UK marine engineering, science and technology community, and for this
your views and your feedback are
vital. All with a keen personal and professional interest in the oceans are urged to react –
NOW! This is not an opportunity that will come round again for many, many years, we all have to grasp the proverbial nettle and put forward our views while there is still time!
Steps to take
- If you have not already done so, please complete the original survey that you will find by clicking here
- Send your comments to IMarEST for the attention of Bev MacKenzie – bev.mackenzie [at] imarest [dot] org by no later than 25 January
- Contact your MP – even if you have made initial contact, you now have the Government response on which to comment. Full details on contacting your MP can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/mp.cfm. Your opinion matters to your MP, so please use your constitutional right.
Let’s work together to make our marine voices heard
Further press information from:
Judith Patten @ JPPR
34 Ellerker Gardens, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6AA, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8241 1912; Fax: +44 (0) 20 8940 6211
Email: judithpatten [at] wwmail [dot] co [dot] uk
or
Suki Kalsi @ IMarEST
80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 2600: Fax: +44 (0) 20 7382 2670
Email: suki.kalsi [at] imarest [dot] org
