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34-728: The SERC also had oversight of: From its formation in 1965 until 1981 it was known as the Science Research Council (SRC). The SRC had been formed in 1965 as a result of the Trend Committee enquiry into the organisation of civil science in the UK. Previously the Minister for Science had been responsible for various research activities in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and more loosely with

68-539: A Welsh office at Cardiff in 1953, and a Northern branch office at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963. Late in 1954, the Lord President appointed a small committee under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Jephcott to enquire into the organisation and functioning of the department. Its recommendations were given effect in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Act 1956, which abolished the advisory council and

102-571: A lump sum of £1 million, the 'Million Fund', was voted and an Imperial Trust was set up to administer it. Because of the close connection between education and research, the President of the Board of Education was nominated as vice-president of the committee of the Privy Council, and the committee's staff and accommodation were at first provided by the board. With the increasing importance of

136-485: A month, wherever the sovereign may be residing at the time, to give formal approval to Orders in Council . Only a few privy counsellors need attend such meetings, and only when invited to do so at the government's request. As the duties of the Lord President are not onerous, the post has often been given to a government minister whose responsibilities are not department-specific. In recent years it has been most typical for

170-808: A number of research organisations, which included large laboratories for special fields of work. Existing institutions for which it assumed responsibility were the National Physical Laboratory from the Royal Society in 1918, the Geological Survey and Geological Museum from the Board of Education in 1919, the Road Experimental Station from the Ministry of Transport in 1933, the Laboratory of

204-965: A practical objective, such as the Building Research Station, the Fire Research Station, the Forest Products Research Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, the Radio Research Station , the Torry Research Station and the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. The British Museum Laboratory, established by the department in 1919, was transferred to the museum in 1930. Three food research establishments,

238-455: A variety of agencies concerned with the formulation of civil scientific policy. One of the main problems addressed by the enquiry was how to decide the priorities for government funding across all areas of scientific research. Previously this task had been the responsibility of the Treasury without direct scientific advice. The other Research Councils formed in 1965 were: These bodies joined

272-657: The Medical Research Council (MRC) which had existed since 1920. In 1981, to reflect the increased emphasis on engineering research, the SRC was renamed the Science and Engineering Research Council. In 1994, the new Director General of Research Councils was charged with reorganization of the four existing research councils, and this resulted in the SERC being split three bodies: The two Observatories were moved under

306-435: The Medical Research Council ; in 1958 the department's research programme was transferred from its Headquarters Office to the new Warren Spring Laboratory . The executive head of each research organisation was a director of research responsible to the head of the department. The director was provided with one or more research institutes or laboratories and with an advisory research board. The research boards were appointed by

340-671: The Pest Infestation Laboratory , Low Temperature Research Station and Ditton Laboratory , passed to the Agricultural Research Council in 1959. From 1941 to 1945 the department was responsible for atomic energy research, in an organisation known as the Directorate of Tube Alloys . In the 1950s the department embarked on research in the human sciences in relation to the needs of industry, undertaken from 1953 to 1957 in collaboration with

374-489: The Privy Council consisting at first of six ministers and three other privy councillors in their personal capacities. This new Committee for Scientific and Industrial Research was to be assisted by an Advisory Council, which in turn was assisted by certain advisory committees. As a first step, a scheme was devised for encouraging groups of firms to set up co-operative industrial research associations. For this purpose,

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408-573: The British war economy and consequently the entire British war effort. Winston Churchill , clearly believing that this wartime co-ordinating role was beneficial, introduced a similar but expanded system in the first few years of his post-war premiership . The so-called 'overlord ministers' included Frederick Leathers as Secretary of State for the Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power and Lord Woolton as Lord President. Woolton's job

442-579: The Council King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Lord President of

476-779: The Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State , ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal . The Lord President usually attends and is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Privy Council, presenting business for the approval of the Sovereign . The Privy Council meets once

510-523: The Council, solely to preside over a meeting of the Privy Council held in a Commonwealth realm . Examples of this practice are the meetings in New Zealand in 1990 and 1995, when Geoffrey Palmer and James Bolger respectively were acting Lords President. Andrea Leadsom 's appointment in June 2017 was the first in some time where the post holder was not a full Cabinet member. "The Privy Council

544-504: The Department of Education and Science, which took over responsibility for overseas scientific liaison and the general advancement of scientific knowledge; and the new Science Research Council , which was now to deal with grants for university research and awards for postgraduate students. Administered by the DSIR prior to its disbandment in 1965: Industrial Research And Development In The United Kingdom A Survey. Lord President of

578-901: The Government Chemist (previously the Government Chemist's Department) in 1959, and the Tropical Products Institute from the Colonial Office in the same year. Some research organisations founded by the department had functions defined in terms of a field of science or technology such as the Chemical Research Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory and the Hydraulics Research Station . Others were defined in terms of

612-487: The Imperial Trust and vested executive power in a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The council, set up on 7 November 1956, was appointed by and responsible to the Lord President of the Council and was required to comply with any directions it might receive from a committee of the Privy Council for scientific and industrial research. In 1959 these functions of the lord president were transferred to

646-620: The Lord President also to serve as Leader of the House of Commons or Leader of the House of Lords . The Lord President has no role in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . In the history of British government, the President of the Council is a relatively recent creation. The first certain appointment to the office being that of the Duke of Suffolk in 1529. Although there is a reference to Edmund Dudley serving as 'president of

680-405: The advancement of trade and industry, and taking steps to further the practical application of the results of research. It could make grants for the purposes of any of these functions. The department was not responsible for research undertaken primarily to meet the requirements of national defence, nor did it cover all government activity in research for civil purposes. Large areas of research were

714-793: The aegis of PPARC, and the Laboratories initially into EPSRC and later into their own organization, the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC). In 2007 CCLRC and PPARC were merged to form the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), with responsibility for nuclear physics being transferred from EPSRC to STFC. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (United Kingdom) The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

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748-469: The council' in 1497, it was only in 1529 that the role was given the style and precedence of a Great Officer of State by act of Parliament ( 21 Hen. 8 . c. 20). Prior to 1679 there were several periods in which the office was left vacant. During coronations of the monarch, the Lord President carries the Sword of State . In the 19th century, the Lord President was generally the cabinet member responsible for

782-585: The department was established. In 1928 the committee of council was reconstituted with an entirely ministerial membership; otherwise, the organisation survived with only small changes until the 1950s. The department was responsible for the organisation, development and encouragement of scientific and industrial research and the dissemination of its results. It worked by encouraging and supporting scientific research in universities, technical colleges and other institutions, establishing and developing its own research organisations for investigation and research relative to

816-508: The department was provided by the needs of the war effort. The initiative was taken by the President of the Board of Education who, in May 1915, presented to Parliament a white paper urging that a permanent organisation for the promotion of scientific and industrial research should be set up. By order in council of 28 July 1915 authority for such an organisation was vested in a committee of

850-476: The education system, amongst his other duties. This role was gradually scaled back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but remnants of it remain, such as the oversight of the governance of various universities. During times of National or coalition government the office of Lord President has sometimes been held by the leader of a minority party (e.g. Baldwin 1931–1935, MacDonald 1935–1937, Attlee 1943–1945, Clegg 2010–2015). It has been suggested that

884-602: The industrial side of research, these initial arrangements soon became inadequate. Consequently, in December 1916 a separate Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was created, having its own parliamentary vote but responsible to Parliament through the Lord President of the Council . Once the full four-tier organisation of the committee of the council, the Advisory Council, the Imperial Trust and

918-516: The lord president of the Council until 1956 and thereafter by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research . The boards were responsible for advising the council on the programme of work to be undertaken, and to watch, comment and advise, and to report annually, on the progress of the approved programme. A Scottish branch office of the department was opened in Edinburgh in September 1947,

952-413: The newly created Minister for Science. The department was abolished by the Science and Technology Act 1965 , which dispersed its functions over a number of government departments and other bodies. Those primarily concerned were the new Ministry of Technology , which became responsible for the application of scientific knowledge to industry and for the majority of the department's research establishments;

986-473: The office has been intermittently used for Prime Ministerial deputies in the past. A particularly vital role was played by the Lord President of the Council during the Second World War . The Lord President served as chairman of the Lord President's Committee . This committee acted as a central clearing house which dealt with the country's economic problems. This was vital to the smooth running of

1020-480: The responsibility of other bodies – aviation, atomic energy, agriculture, health and medicine, meteorology – though it might undertake specific investigations on behalf of the responsible departments. The department encouraged and supported scientific research in universities and other institutions by means of grants for special research projects, research fellowships, studentships, grants to research associations and research contracts. The department absorbed or created

1054-592: Was a department of the British Government responsible for the organisation, development, and encouragement of scientific and industrial research. At the outbreak of the First World War "Britain found ... it was dangerously dependent on enemy industries". At the request of the Board of Trade , the Board of Education prepared a White Paper under the chairmanship of Sir William McCormick . The DSIR

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1088-535: Was set up to fill the roles that the White Paper specified: "to finance worthy research proposals, to award research fellowships and studentships [in universities], and to encourage the development of research associations in private industry and research facilities in university science departments. [It] rapidly assumed a key role in coordinating government aid to university research. It maintained these roles until 1965. The annual budget during its first year, 1915,

1122-592: Was to co-ordinate the then separate ministries of agriculture and food. The historian Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield quotes a PhD thesis by Michael Kandiah saying that Woolton was "arguably the most successful of the Overlords" partly because his ministries were quite closely related; indeed, they were merged in 1955 as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food . On several occasions since 1954, non-British Ministers have served briefly as acting Lords President of

1156-412: Was £1,000,000. Before the twentieth century, the government was little concerned with scientific enquiry. By 1914 there were a number of small governmental bodies with a specialised scientific interest, but little organised effort towards the application of discoveries made in fundamental research and no organisation concerned with the application of science to industry. The impetus to the establishment of

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