CST meeting summary, 2 and 3 March 2022
Published 23 March 2022
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Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology.
Meeting summary: 2 and 3 March 2022.
Attendees
Attended:
- Patrick Vallance
- John Browne
- Julia Black
- Philip Bond
- Muffy Calder
- Suranga Chandratillake (Day 2)
- Josh Fleming
- Jim Hall
- Anne Johnson,
- Saul Klein,
- Ottoline Leyser
- Max Lu
- Andrew McCosh
- Dervilla Mitchell
- Fiona Murray (Day 1)
- Paul Newman
- Brooke Rogers
- Jo Shanmugalingam
- Adrian Smith
- Paul Stein
- Susannah Storey
Apologies:
- Chris Bishop
- Nick Stern
- Charles Roxborough
- Jim McDonald
Guests:
- Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education
- Sir Ian Diamond, Government Chief Statistician and CEO of Office for National Statistics
- Rt Hon Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
- Paul Kett, Director General for Higher and Further Education
Day 1
1. The Secretary of State for Education gave an update on the government’s priorities for action on skills and establishment of a Future Skills Unit. Members discussed the need for specific technical skills and how to improve the careers information provided to young people about the breadth of opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers.
2. Sir Ian Diamond presented an update on the Integrated Data Service to improve access to public sector data and facilitate timely analysis to inform government decision making. Members welcomed the progress made by Office for National Statistics (ONS) and highlighted the importance of communicating data back to communities in a meaningful way.
3. Members received updates from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Treasury, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Office for Science and Technology Strategy (OSTS) on their department’s priorities.
Day 2
4. The Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities gave an update on the Levelling up white paper published in February 2021. Members discussed effective approaches to implementation of the research, development and innovation commitments and the role that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has played to develop local capacity for research and innovation.
5. Members reviewed progress with current projects including new work on Engineering Biology and the role of procurement for innovation. They noted recent government action relevant to previous advice on health, net zero and finance for innovative scale-up companies.
CST Secretariat
March 2022