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Introduction
Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department
The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) is responsible for advising Ministers on policy relating to agriculture, rural development, food, the environment and fisheries, and for ensuring the implementation of those policies in Scotland.
The Department's main aims are:-
- to help improve the economic performance of Scotland's agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and food industries within the wider context of sustainable exploitation of our land, sea and freshwater resources and rural development, while safeguarding the interests of consumers, protecting and enhancing the environment, and ensuring a fair deal for taxpayers
- to support Ministers in helping the people of Scotland secure a high quality of life through sensitive stewardship and sustainable development of the natural resources of Scotland; in particular by securing a clean, healthy and safe environment, ensuring a safe and effective water industry, and improving people's enjoyment of the environment
SEERAD aims to promote rural development and ensure that the needs and interests of rural Scotland are reflected in all of the Executive's policies and priorities. It also has the responsibility within the Executive for the promotion of sustainable development and embedding it across the range of the Executive's policies. SEERAD aims to improve the agricultural, food and fisheries industries' economic performance by effective implementation of the EC Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy obligations, and by promotion of further reform of policies at UK and EU level.
SEERAD aims to protect and enhance the environment by promoting environmentally sensitive farming, farm woodlands and fishing, by securing the conservation and enhancement of Scotland's unique natural heritage and by improving scientific understanding of Scotland's terrestrial and aquatic environment. It promotes nature conservation and the public's enjoyment of the natural heritage through ensuring compliance with EU and international nature conservation requirements and the positive management of designated areas. In support of these aims the department sponsors and works through Scottish Natural Heritage - the Executive's statutory adviser on natural heritage and nature conservation matters.
SEERAD is assisted by three Executive Agencies:
Scottish Agricultural Science Agency - statutory and regulatory work in seed testing, plant health and use of pesticides;
Fisheries Research Services - monitors and advises on fish stocks, advises on issues affecting the aquatic environment and undertakes relevant research in support of policy development;
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency - enforces the UK and EU sea fisheries regulations in ports and at sea within British Fishery Limits around Scotland and monitors compliance by the industry.
Role of SEERAD and Science and Research Group (SRG)
The Scottish Executive Environment Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) funds a wide range of agricultural, biological and environmental research. The main programme of research amounts to approximately £45m each year and is managed on behalf of SEERAD by the Science and Research Group (SRG). The research funded is mainly strategic and applied work; basic research, which forms a maximum of 10% of the portfolio, is supported only where relevant to policy needs.
SRG-funded research is conducted primarily through its Main Research Providers (MRPs). Capital funding is also made available to them by SEERAD Science and Research Group. They also compete for funding from other sources in the public and private sectors. They are companies limited by guarantee governed by independently appointed Boards. Over 85% of the research SEERAD Science and Research Group supports is conducted at its MRPs. The MRPs are as follows:
Scottish Crop Research Institute ( www.scri.sari.ac.uk) is a major centre for research on agricultural, horticultural and industrial crops in particular potatoes, barley and soft fruit.
Rowett Research Institute ( www.rowett.ac.uk) carries out research on how nutrition can prevent disease, improve human and animal health and enhance the quality of food production in agriculture.
Moredun Research Institute ( www.moredun.org.uk) carries out research on diseases of livestock with a particular focus on small ruminants.
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute ( www.macaulay.ac.uk) carries out research to meet the needs of sustainable rural development and environmental management in Scotland and similar areas worldwide.
Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland ( www.bioss.sari.ac.uk) provides support and research on mathematics and statistics to the other SEERAD research organisations. Since October 2005 it has become an operating division of SCRI.
Scottish Agricultural College ( www.sac.ac.uk) carries out research to meet the needs of the land based industries focussing on sustainable crop and livestock systems, animal health and welfare, economics, socio-economics and the environment. SAC also provides education to diploma, degree and post-graduate levels and a wide range of other training. SEERAD Science and Research Group fund education activities and provide funding for "public good" advice commissioned by SEERAD. SAC is a company, limited by guarantee with a Board of Directors.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh ( www.rbge.org.uk). The role and status of RBGE is distinct. It is a Non-Departmental Public Body and its functions are defined by the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 including research, education, collections and public access. Its Trustees are appointed by Scottish Ministers. Support for its research activities is provided as part of its grant-in-aid.
The majority of SRG-funded research is long-term and strategic in nature, with approximately 85% of the funds currently being placed with the MRPs. The remaining 15% (approximately £6m) forms the Flexible Fund which is used for 3 purposes: purchasing research to meet specific shorter term Departmental policy needs, fostering scientific collaboration between the MRPs and other research organisations and to support knowledge/technology transfer from SEERAD funded research through related LINK programmes.
SEERAD is involved in a number of funded co-ordination mechanisms that operate across the UK to avoid duplication and to identify opportunities for seeking added value through joint funding. These mechanisms operate at a number of levels from discussions on discrete areas of science through to strategic discussions and concordats between Departments. Other funders with whom SRG is in regular contact include Research Councils (BBSRC, NERC, ESRC, and MRC), Defra, FSA, SEPA, SNH and the various levy bodies (HGCA, BPC, HDC, MDC, QMS and MLC).
There has always been a strong emphasis on technology and knowledge transfer in the SRG-funded research programme. One of the main routes is via the SACs Education and Advisory/Extension activities. In addition the MRPs also have their own commercial subsidiaries to foster the exploitation of their strategic science output. In most cases Intellectual Property rights (IP) is gifted to the contractors, to encourage further exploitation of the research outputs.
SRG has responsibility for the following issues:
· Developing the Group's research strategy and policy;
· General science and technology policy issues, specifically relating to knowledge transfer, commercialisation and publicity;
· Periodic peer review of the research within the MRPs organisations (the Research Organisation Assessment Exercise);
· The policy and management of the £6m Flexible Fund for contract research;
· Liaising with other research funders such as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs;
· Co-ordinating responses to Parliamentary Questions and contributions to Ministerial speeches for SRG;
· Scientific advisory role within Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD);
· Commissioning and monitoring of Core grant-in-aid research programmes for the MRPs;
· Development of MRPs Corporate, Science and Business Plans, the commissioning and management of the Flexible Fund research portfolio advising on scientific aspects to ensure the effective implementation of SEERAD's research Strategy;
· Discussing and agreeing Corporate Plans presented by the MRPs;
· Making financial allocations to the MRPs and overseeing their financial management to include receipt of financial accounts, monitoring audit activity and reviewing and updating Management Statements outlining the financial and managerial relationship between these organisations and the department;
· Operation of the SEERAD Superannuation Scheme and consideration of early retirement and early severance cases presented by the MRPs,
· Land and Property matters for the MRPs as they affect Scottish Ministers' interests;
· Education function and provision of Veterinary Advisory Services at SAC;
· General sponsorship issues including Appointments, Pay Remits and consideration of a range of central Scottish Executive initiatives to the MRPs.
SEERADs Research Strategy
'Strategic Research for SEERAD 2005-2010: Environment, Biology and Agriculture' was published in January 2005. This followed an extensive period of discussion and consultation with end users and MRPs.
This strategy sets out a series of important changes in the Department's approach to commissioning research, particularly concerning the 85% of funds placed with the MRPs.
The Strategy document outlines SEERAD's three main objectives:
- To procure scientific research that is of high quality and strategically relevant to Scottish Ministers' policy, legislative and enforcement functions.
- To improve knowledge and technology transfer from, and public awareness of, the research and its outputs.
- To ensure that those parts of the research base funded by SEERAD Science and Research Group are effective and efficient.
From April 2006 there will be a significant change in the way SEERAD commissions its research from the MRPs. SEERAD will move to funding Programmes of research via rolling grants rather than providing grant-in-aid to sponsor institutes to carry out an agreed set of projects. The first step in this process was for SEERAD to provide MRPs with a set of outcome requirements from its research programme.
In developing the new Strategy SEERAD were advised to adopt a process of peer review of research proposals, i.e. a prospective system, in addition to its former retrospective institute assessment exercise.
In terms of Research drivers the SEERAD-SRG Strategy identifies three overarching, cross cutting themes which provide the strategic context for the overall research effort. These cross cutting themes (CCT) are:
- CCT 1: Responding to Climate Change
- CCT 2: Protecting Biodiversity
- CCT 3: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability of Rural Scotland
These key issues will be addressed by research in four main research Programmes which will be commissioned from April 2006. These are:
- Programme 1: Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture - Plants
- Programme 2: Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture - Animals
- Programme 3: Environment - Land Use and Rural Stewardship
- Programme 4: Impacts on Human Health
This Programme and cross cutting theme approach will ensure that the research makes the greatest possible contribution to the policy and other functions of SEERAD. Each Programme will contain collaborative, interdisciplinary research and will be expected to maximise the relevance and quality of the research to the policy and other functions of SEERAD. The four Programmes will also be expected to form high-level linkages between themselves.
The Research Strategy identified a number of key research outputs within each Programme. SEERAD has developed these key outputs into a series of complementary Work Package specifications, which were issued to MRPs in January 2005. The Macaulay, Moredun and Scottish Crop Research Institutes, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and SAC were invited to submit joint proposals for the Work Packages within the 3 "land use" Programmes (Programmes 1-3). The Rowett Institute was invited to submit proposals for Work Packages contained in Programme 4 on impacts on human health. Proposals were submitted at the end of May 2005 and, as indicated in the Research Strategy, are undergoing a review process for scientific quality and strategic and policy relevance before the work is commissioned.
BACKGROUND
The SRG Research Strategy which was published in January this year committed the Executive to establishing a Strategic Advisory Panel. The Panel, the creation of which was widely supported by stakeholders, will give independent high level advice on SEERAD's research activities in particular the overall structure and balance of the research programmes and whether new Programme Objectives (PO's) or approaches are justified. It will also advise on horizon scanning to inform the future development of research programmes.
The review process advised that SEERAD Science and Research Group should consider how it can best obtain independent scientific and research advice on the overall balance and structure of its research activities. Currently neither SEERAD nor SEERAD SRG has any form of standing committee which provides strategic or scientific advice to the Department or Group. A number of ad hoc groups have advised SEERAD SRG on various issues and the Scottish Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) provides advice on a range of scientific policies across the SE, including matters relevant to SEERAD.
Most other funders look to standing committees to provide strategic advice. Perhaps the most sophisticated of these are the Research Councils where in addition to the Council itself there are a suite of committees to advise on Research Programmes, strategy and funding. Recently Defra have set up the Scientific Advisory Council to provide high level strategic scientific advice. SEERAD can tap into these sources of advice particularly on matters which have UK relevance, for example, the need for investment in new scientific approaches, technologies or facilities. However, they are unable to address issues of particular Scottish relevance or the overall balance of SEERAD's activities and needs for science.
The change to a Programme approach, the need to open the funds further to competition and to strengthen the relevance of the research funded by SEERAD Science and Research Group confirmed the need for independent advice at a strategic level.
SEERAD SRG has therefore established the Strategic Science Advisory Panel to advise on such issues as the continuing relevance and overall balance of the Programmes.
The Panel will consider and advise on the balance of resources between Programmes and whether new Programme Objectives or approaches are justified. SEERAD will also look to the Panel for advice on how to take forward horizon scanning activities to inform the future development of the work that it funds. Its membership has been drawn from end-users, the research community and other funders. Appointments have been made in accordance with the procedures of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland.
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