If the Department of Health were to take responsibility for Medical Research Council funding, fundamental medical research would need to be protected, science minister David Willetts says.
In an interview with Research Fortnight on 5 June, Willetts said he has been following rumours that MRC funding could move from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to the Department of Health.
While he would not confirm or deny the speculation, he said that were a transfer to take place, the twin functions of medical research must be maintained—on one hand, the fundamental research in the MRC’s remit, and the more patient-focused work that is carried out by DH research bodies such as the National Institute of Health Research.
“Any arrangements that might emerge, if there is any change at the spending review or triennial review, have to protect those two rather distinct functions,” he said.
Willetts also said he would not want to see the “underlying principles” of what the MRC does as a research council threatened.
“What I completely understand is that the MRC’s function as a member of the science family and the autonomy that follows on from the Haldane principle is very important,” he said. “We’re just celebrating the 100th anniversary of the MRC and what it has achieved is fantastic. Nobody wishes to jeopardise that achievement by interfering with the Haldane principle or interfering with its close connections to the other science bodies.”