Establishment of new Ministry
Statement to the Research, Science and Technology sector on 1 June 2010
The Government has announced the roles and functions of the new Ministry of Science and Innovation – the organisation that will be formed as a result of the amalgamation of MoRST and the Foundation.
The roles and functions include:
- Advising the Minister of Research, Science and Technology on New Zealand’s science and innovation system
- Managing science funding
- Driving knowledge transfer to businesses and other research users
- A new function advising shareholding Ministers on the performance of Crown Research Institutes
The Government has also announced measures to ensure that research funding decisions will be independent. Under forthcoming legislation, the Minister will appoint boards that will make independent funding decisions based on published criteria. The Minister won’t be able to direct decisions on individual research proposals.
Cabinet’s approval of the roles and responsibilities of the new Ministry means the State Services Commission will begin the search for a Chief Executive. The Government expects that legislation establishing the new Ministry will be passed by the end of 2010.
The new Ministry will assume its duties and begin operating at a date after that, once staffing and systems are in place. There will be opportunities for you to comment on the legislation establishing the new Ministry in the process run by the Select Committee.
The Cabinet paper detailing these decisions will shortly be available from the State Services Commission website www.ssc.govt.nz.
We’d like to assure you of our continuing commitment to delivering high quality work during the merger period, including rolling out the Government’s changes around business R&D support and CRI reform.
Please contact either of us should you have any questions.
Murray Bain, Chief Executive, Foundation for Research, Science and Technology
Lesley Middleton, Acting Chief Executive, Ministry of Research Science and Technology