GO Science programme funding drops again

The Government Office for Science's 2014-15 programme funding shrank by almost a fifth compared with the previous year, falling to £1.4 million.

The drop in programme funding, revealed in GO Science’s annual report, follows a steep decline from an average spend of £2.5m between 2009 and 2013 to £1.7m in 2013-14. 

In the annual report, published on 18 December, GO Science says that the reduction was due to “the improved ability to obtain expert science advice at little or no cost”, as well as the fact that a number of activities were delivered in-house rather than being commissioned from outside.