The Rothschild Experience

Health Science Policy and Society in Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID5162933
AuthorsMichael P Duffy (0000-0001-5325-3683, corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume11
Issue1
Pages68-78
Publication date1986-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/027046768601100107
OpenAlexW2737430515
LanguageEN
Citations received5

In November 1971, the British Government published a report, prepared under the supervision of Lord Victor Rothschild, that proposed changes in the way that government-sponsored scientific research should be financed. The so-called Rothschild Report recommended a break from the then prevailing British view that scientific research should be autonomous and free from government intervention. Instead, the Report proposed that some government funds should be transferred from the independent research councils to the government departments, which would then contract the research councils to do work that would more closely meet department needs. Such a system, the Report argued, would make science more accountable and more responsive to the needs of society. The Government implemented, in large part, the proposals of the Rothschild Report, transferring about one-quarter of the funding for the research councils to the appropriate departments. However, in terms of health science research, involving the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), the Rothschild scheme was not as efficacious as initially envisioned. Even with the transferred funds under the jurisdiction of the DHSS, research goals did not change substantially be

Political science · Rothschild · Science policy · Sociology · Health and Medical Research Impacts · Law · Public Administration

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