RSC welcomes the Sainsbury Review

Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said this afternoon of the Sainsbury Review:

"The Society greatly welcomes the Sainsbury Review, to which the RSC made a contribution. 

"Coming from such an experienced former Minister of Science, it is a valuable analysis of what we need to do to make Britain a world-class place in which to do science. As we ourselves are a Society with a global reach - and members all over the world - we wholeheartedly endorse the view that the UK must not ignore globalisation but redouble its efforts for the international scientific cooperation necessary to deal with global challenges such as future energy sources and climate change.

"We now look to the Government to match the country's aspirations with funding for refurbishing school laboratories, Continuing Professional Development for teachers as well as promoting innovation. Taking a supply chain approach to the whole process, as eloquently laid out in the Sainsbury Report, is the only way forward. Continuing the investment seen in the past 10 years is vital for our future success. We must remember that we are improving our importance across a range of science and innovation indicators; but relative importance is key and if we don't outperform our global competitors we will be effectively going backwards. The blueprint sets out our future strategy."