RSNZ Policy Update – June 2005

MoRST –Budget

This year’s budget continues the large growth seen last year. The real funding for research has increased by over 56% since 1999. This growth in funding has focused on research with clear economic outcomes, and this emphasis continues. Particular points in the budget are:

$45 million for the Vote RS&T budget, taking it to $586m, exclusive of GST
$25.4m for the PBRF, taking it to $163m
10% growth in Marsden funding, to $38.1m
The new CRI Capability fund takes over from NSOF and continues to grow, by $9.3m to $38m
Health research is seen as a clear growth area, with a $11.6m rise to $54m
There are continued increases in Research for Industry and TechNZ

Lacking from the budget are substantial increases for environmental, social or Maori knowledge and development. There were also minor changes to the tax treatments private R&D, but not the substantial support that RSNZ has recommended. Bearing in mind that New Zealand ’s major research problem is not poor government spending but a lack of private investment in R&D, this omission gives cause for concern.

CRI Capability fund

The NSOF fund has been enlarged and redirected into the CRI Capabilities Fund. This fund is explicitly directed towards supporting and enhancing human research resources at CRIs.

NSOF was a pot of variable size, allocated on the basis of FRST funding won by each CRI. The Capability Fund is of fixed but growing size and will be allocated on the basis of income from the whole of government. ESR, which receives much of its government income from outside of the research system, is the clear winner here, but this growing funding reduces the dependence of all CRIs on fully contestable funds.

MoRST’s Response to the Environmental Research Evaluation

Last year’s evaluation of our environmental research pointed to two problems. Firstly, that the support has declined in real terms over the last five to ten years. Secondly, that there are problems with the uptake and use of the research that is done. This year’s budget included an initiative to address the second. Envirolink is a $6.6m project to help local councils make better use of the environmental research available to them. However, the increase in funding for environmental research was less than inflation, so the first problem continues to worsen, with a loss of capability in this area.

FRST. In May, FRST announced the results of the ecosystems OBI process. The research programmes chosen covered biosecurity, possum bio-control, ecosystem resilience, restoring and sustaining biodiversity and defining New Zealand's flora and fauna.

An independent reviewer employed by FRST is evaluating the Outcome Based Investment process, and the Biodiversity Committee contributed to the evaluation, outlining the impact of the process on biodiversity research. The paper is available on our web page under both the biodiversity cttee web page, and policy papers page: http://www.rsnz.org/news/policy/

The main points raised were that:

The OBI concept of improving connections between end-users and providers of research is commendable; however, those links may already have been good, and FRST may now penalise researchers for the failure of end-users to take up research (e.g. because they can’t afford to implement it).
If the OBI mechanism leads to narrowly prescribed contractual-style work to address operational needs of a limited set of end-users, then science excellence will suffer. To mitigate against such an outcome, the importance of maintaining systems to monitor and manage science excellence within OBIs must be made a more explicit component of OBI evaluation.
The numbers of FRST-funded scientists had decreased at both Landcare Research and NIWA (the major CRIs undertaking ecological research) by 20% since 1998, (presumably as a result of reduced environmental research investment in real terms), and the OBI does not address the needs that exist in underlying core capabilities that have been lost over recent years.
The process of implementation of the OBI was costly in terms of resources and time, the electronic portal for final applications was criticised and the method of information dissemination from FRST - slow release of information documents, mixed messages and lack of clarity was slated.
The dichotomy of collaboration and competition was brought to a head with some researchers saying that previous collaborative connections among groups were broken by the excessively competitive nature of the bidding, causing additional stress.

In short, the OBI was not recommended as a process for other investment instruments in its current form. The submission is available at www.rsnz.org/advisory/biodiversity/out05.php

FRST continues to develop its investment strategy. Draft target outcomes for all portfolios have been published, along with contact details for portfolio managers, at

www.frst.govt.nz/research/downloads/index/00_Target_Outcomes_and_Themes-May05.doc .The RFPs have been put back and are expected to be issued in January 2006.

Other FRST Evaluations

An evaluation of the Pre-Seed Accelerator Fund has recently been completed and will be made available in the next few weeks. The evaluation looked at the effectiveness of the fund, in terms of its impact on institutional practise and culture and its early-stage impact on commercialisation. The evaluation was also looking for early success stories.

An evaluation of users of energy research concluded that research users were well aware of the research. The FRST-funded research enabled organisations to carry out research that they would not otherwise do and was highly significant for the sector. However, only a small number could report commercial benefits from that research. An evaluation of ICT research, focusing on pathways and success factors in commercialisation, has been completed and should be published shortly. An evaluation of the Cross Departmental Research Pool is underway, looking at outcomes from the pool. This fund was set up to improve the abilities of departments to provide policy advice to Ministers.

Other Government Departments and Agencies

Ministry for the Environment Freshwater Water Programme of Action

NZ Climate Committee made a submission to MfE over the lack of consideration of variability of water supply, both due to anthropogenic change and due to natural variability. The following points were raised:

There are large changes in rainfall, both on a year-to-year and a decade-to-decade basis.
Increasing climate change in NZ will alter rainfall patterns, with higher rainfall in the west and drier in the east. Storms and floods are likely to increase. This will change availability of, demand for and reliability of fresh water supply.
Relevant, high quality and timely scientific information will be needed to address these issues, as will the ability of users to make decisions based on that information.

OECD Environmental Performance Review of NZ

The OECD is sending a review team to NZ to write a report on the past 10 years' of performance in environmental policy. In particular they are looking at water and waste management; biodiversity; sustainable development; agriculture and forestry; and, international cooperation and commitments. The Biodiversity Committee chair will attend with Kathleen Logan, who is representing points of view from some constituent societies. A written contribution with facts and figures may also be provided to the OECD; however, they already have government figures on the past 10 years (such as levels of environmental research funding).

The Ministry for the Environment Professional Associations Liaison Meetings

The status of these meetings was reviewed. Currently, Kathleen attends, and disseminates relevant information such as forthcoming consultations to constituent societies. Much of the information is not relevant (to R,S&T) so it is useful to have the sifting function. However, sometimes there is a delay in dissemination due to other RSNZ business, therefore reducing the efficacy of the meeting's dissemination role. It would be good to develop a formalised plan for disseminating the information from the PB (Prof. Bodies) meetings at MfE to our constituents.

PCE

PCE are working with Massey on a project to develop a Genuine Progress Indicator for NZ, to be compared with the more usual GDP indicator. They are also studying the economic instruments that have been used to drive changes towards sustainability. One clear success story is the levy placed on plastic supermarket bags in Ireland. The study will look at how these economic tools are used and whether or not they work. PCE are also carrying out an energy scenarios study. It is expected that we will be able to respond to the document during August.

DoC

Currently has no public consultations running.

Ministry of Fisheries

MinFish is currently consulting on whether it should be necessary for fishing trawlers to use bird scaring devices.

Toi te Taiao Bioethics Council Dialogue on Animal to Human Transplantation (Xenotransplantation)

Kathleen Logan wrote a submission on the animal to human transplantation dialogue, defending the use of the 'scientific method' for gaining evidence on which to base ethical decisions, and discussing the manner by which a government might make decisions on behalf of a diverse cross section of society. This submission is presented as a decision item at this Council meeting.