Big Science: Public investment in large scientific facilities

Transcription

1 Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities LONDON: The Statioery Office Ordered by the House of Commos to be prited o 22 Jauary 2007 REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 153 Sessio Jauary 2007

2 EXECuTIvE SummARy 1 The Govermet ivests i a rage of large scietific facilities to support ad develop the atio s sciece base. Sice 2000 the Departmet of Trade ad Idustry s (the Departmet) Office of Sciece ad Iovatio has established ew arragemets to co-ordiate plaig for large facilities. The mai compoets are a road map describig large facilities which UK scietists are likely to eed i the ext 10 to 15 years, ad a cetral fud (the Large Facilities Capital Fud) of aroud 100 millio per year to support ivestmets i such facilities by Research Coucils. The Research Coucils are the Arts ad Humaities Research Coucil (AHRC), Biotechology ad Biological Scieces Research Coucil (BBSRC), Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils (), Ecoomic ad Social Research Coucil (ESRC), Egieerig ad Physical Scieces Research Coucil (EPSRC), Medical Research Coucil (MRC), Natural Eviromet Research Coucil (NERC) ad Particle Physics ad Astroomy Research Coucil (PPARC). 2 The Departmet has earmarked 830 millio from the cetral fud to 15 prioritised projects as set out i Figure 1 o page 6. Oce prioritised, these projects progress by presetig sciece ad busiess cases to secure project approval. To date 10 projects have received Departmetal approval. Part 1 of this report evaluates the stregth of curret processes for the idetificatio, appraisal ad prioritisatio of potetial ivestmets i large scietific facilities. Part 2 evaluates performace i deliverig those facilities prioritised for support. Te projects examied i detail i this report are outlied i Figure 2 o pages 8 ad 9. I total they have a capital budget of 1 billio. The study methods are summarised at Appedix 1. 4 BIG SCIENCE: PuBLIC INvESTmENT IN LARGE SCIENTIFIC FACILITIES

3 summary 3 Ultimately, the value for moey to be obtaied from these facilities will deped o the scietific discoveries they help make ad the effective exploitatio of that sciece. Our study cocludes that, though such outcomes will always remai ucertai, the curret arragemets should deliver a sigificat cotributio to the developmet of the atio s scietific ifrastructure. The arragemets iclude the developmet of a commo pla kow as the road map. This is co-ordiated by Research Coucils UK a partership of the research coucils which addresses priorities which cut across scietific disciplies. The road map has allowed scietific priorities to be cosidered i a more systematic way across disciplies. Workig withi HM Treasury s Gree Book guidace o project appraisal ad evaluatio, 1 special attetio ow eeds to be paid to stregtheig the iformatio available to support choices betwee large facility projects. 4 The projects we examied had geerally bee established i accordace with good practice priciples ad stadards as set out i methodology advocated by the Office of Govermet Commerce for maagig projects, called PRINCE2. 2 More cosistet applicatio of that Office s Gateway reviews to the key stages of every project, would esure all teams beefit from wider sources of advice o areas such as project maagemet, project costig ad fudig ad procuremet optios. 5 It is still early to assess fully the portfolio of projects agaist delivery to time ad budget. To date, performace agaist the approved capital budgets suggests some good budget maagemet, for example o the James Cook research ship, but also projects where forecast capital costs already exceed budget eve though still at a early stage. More sigificatly, some project teams have sigificatly uderestimated the likely ruig costs of facilities oce they are delivered. I additio, more work is eeded by Research Coucils to examie the potetial impact of these facilities o the future demad for research fudig, their capacity to support ay ew demad, or the effect of doig so o other areas of activity. Full use of these facilities will deped o research ideas competig successfully for research fudig, through peer review, agaist other calls o limited Research Coucil budgets. As the ew facilities come o stream, the Research Coucils will eed to moitor the impact o the demad for research fudig ad esure lessos are leared for the appraisal of similar facilities i the future. 6 Our detailed coclusios are as follows: Curret arragemets idetify potetial projects over a sesible plaig horizo, allow prioritisatio across the sciece base, ad are deliverig a sigificat programme of ew or replacemet large scietific facilities. The road map approach was pioeered by the Uited Kigdom ad has bee widely commeded ad adopted by other coutries. Prioritisatio ad assessmet strogly reflect the primary policy objective of advacig scietific kowledge, but ecoomic potetial ad possible exploitatio by idustry are less fully aalysed. Curret arragemets cocetrate attetio o availability of capital fudig to build facilities but there are sigificat weakesses i assessig their ogoig costs, ad the impact (ormally i future spedig review periods) of meetig those costs o the balace of Research Coucil fuded activities. At prioritisatio estimates of costs ad assessmets of beefits are prelimiary, yet priorities are ot reviewed if costs or beefits are sigificatly revised as busiess cases are prepared. Opportuities to maximise the overall sciece beefits of the portfolio of projects may thus be missed. Procuremet strategies have bee adapted to the particular circumstaces of each project. Future projects ca beefit from better sharig of experiece ad lessos leared. More attetio eeds to be give to specifyig from the start how the success of idividual projects will be assessed ad measured, drawig o examples from some curret ad existig projects. This should eable a fuller assessmet of value for moey to be made oce facilities are operatioal ad iform appraisal of future potetial projects. Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities 5

4 1 Sixtee large scietific facilities have bee prioritised, of which 15 have received, or bee earmarked, for support1 Project 2 Year of prioritisatio Lead Research Coucil Large Facilities Capital Fud Allocatio 3 ( millio) Research Coucil Capital Fudig 3 ( millio) Other Capital Fudig 3 ( millio) Total Capital Budget 3 ( millio) Status as at autum 2006 Diamod Sychrotro (Phases I ad II) 3, 4 Royal Research Ship James Cook ISIS 2d Target Statio ad first suite of istrumets Before the 2003 road map NERC Commissioig Post delivery commissioig Uder costructio Eergy Recovery Liac Prototype Uder costructio Halley Atarctic Research Statio 5 NERC Cotracts awarded HECToR (High Ed Computig) Muo Ioisatio Coolig Experimet (Phase I) Laboratory of Molecular Biology 2003 road map EPSRC PPARC MRC I egotiatios with preferred bidders Uder costructio Preparig procuremet strategy Istitute for Aimal Health 6 BBSRC Pricipal cotractor appoited Research Complex icludig ifrastructure MRC/ Preparig procuremet strategy Natioal Istitute for Medical Research 1 MRC Budget ad fudig ot yet determied Prioritised i road map Europea X-Ray Free Electro Laser (XFEL) Fudig earmarked Europea High Performace Computig Service 8 Household Pael Survey ISIS 2d Target Statio secod suite of istrumets 2005 road map EPSRC ESRC Fudig earmarked Fudig earmarked Fudig earmarked Oceaographic Research Ship NERC Fudig earmarked Total , ,229.5 Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Research Coucil data NOTES 1 The Office of Sciece ad Iovatio is awaitig developmet of the Natioal Istitute for Medical Research s busiess case before takig a view o earmarkig of fuds to the project from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. 2 The te projects i blue text were prioritised from the 2003 road map or before the 2003 road map ad were examied i detail for this report. 3 The allocatios ad curret budgets are as at autum The figure for the Large Facilities Capital Fud Allocatio for Diamod Phase I ad II, icludes allocatios made directly by the Office of Sciece ad Iovatio to the project as well as others that passed through the Large Facilities Capital Fud. 4 The Diamod Sychrotro is beig built, ad will be operated, by Diamod Light Source Ltd a joit veture with the Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils ad the Wellcome Trust as shareholders. Wellcome are the source of the other capital fudig of 53.6 millio. 5 The figures for Halley iclude the capital fudig for costructig a ew Atarctic statio but exclude the o-capital fudig of 8.5 millio for decommissioig the existig statio Halley V millio for the redevelopmet of the Istitute for Aimal Health is beig provided by the Departmet for the Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs. 7 The XFEL project is beig led by Germay which will bear 60 per cet of the costructio cost. It is plaed that other coutries will cotribute the remaider of the fuds with the UK providig 11 per cet of the total o-germa cotributio. 8 The Europea high performace computer project plas to share costs of 192 millio betwee the UK, Frace ad Germay with the balace of aroud 200 millio comig from the Europea Commissio ad idustry. 6 Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities

5 Recommedatios 1 The Office of Sciece ad Iovatio, Research Coucils UK ad idividual Research Coucils should stregthe project appraisal by: esurig the productio of more cosistet estimates of costs ad assessmets of beefits at the iitial poit of prioritisatio; ad esurig that if a project s expected costs or beefits at busiess case are sigificatly differet from those iitially aticipated, its priority is recosidered at the ext available opportuity. 2 The Office of Sciece ad Iovatio, Research Coucils UK ad idividual Research Coucils should give greater attetio to the future fiacial sustaiability of projects. Project proposals should be based o realistic estimates of their ogoig costs, the sources of fudig available to cover those costs ad ay implicatios for other activities fuded by Research Coucils. 3 Research Coucils UK should esure that the road map differetiates projects where there is a choice of locatio from those where o such choice is practically available. Research Coucils UK ad the Office of Sciece ad Iovatio should provide Research Coucils with guidace to aid preparatio of comparisos of differet locatios where a choice is available. 4 To improve the trasparecy of ivestmet decisios, ad provide a better opportuity for scrutiy or challege by scietific ad idustrial stakeholders, Research Coucils UK should publish the outcomes of ad ratioale behid the prioritisatio of proposals as part of the large facilities road map. The ratioale should iclude commetary o the implicatios for the overall research programme of supportig the costructio ad operatio of prioritised projects. 5 The Office of Sciece ad Iovatio, Research Coucils UK ad idividual Research Coucils should: esure a evaluatio of the ature ad scale of the ecoomic impacts derived from buildig ad operatig large scietific facilities, oce they have bee brought ito service, is udertake; ad provide guidace to project teams o assessig ad presetig aticipated ecoomic impacts of large facility proposals. 6 The Sciece ad Techology Facilities Coucil, which will be established i April 2007, should: promote awareess of kowledge ad lessos from plaig, procuremet ad operatio of large scietific facilities by brigig project teams or members together to share experieces ad traiig; develop ad promote a cosistet meas of applyig the sciece performace maagemet framework developed by the Office of Sciece ad Iovatio i 2005 to large facilities plaig ad operatio; ad use its ow skills base ad parterships with exteral providers to improve other Research Coucils access to high-grade project maagemet skills for large projects. 7 The Departmet of Trade ad Idustry should work with Research Coucils to esure the Govermet-wide Gateway review process is applied to large facility projects cosistetly ad with a level of idepedece appropriate to their assessmet of risk. 8 Large facility project teams should build o procuremet lessos from previous projects to secure improvemets i value for moey. Across the portfolio of projects there is scope: to udertake a deeper aalysis of risks so that project teams ca separate those which should be trasferred to a cotractor ad those which should be retaied; to make greater use of icetives to ecourage the timely delivery of key compoets or project milestoes; to exted the use of pai/gai share coditios i cotracts, thereby icreasig the icetives for cotractors to cotai costs; to improve the packagig of work by cosiderig the separatio of those elemets where there is a limited pool of potetial suppliers from less demadig elemets; ad for more active promotio of the work o offer to potetial suppliers who might otherwise be deterred from biddig by the scietific ature of the overall project. Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities 7

6 2 The Natioal Audit Office looked at te projects i detail1 Diamod Sychrotro (Diamod Light Source Ltd) Diamod is a 24 cell, 3 giga electro volt, 3rd geeratio sychrotro light source producig itese x-rays ad shorter wavelegth emissios for research i the biological, physical, evirometal ad egieerig scieces. The sychrotro is beig built by, ad will be operated by, a joit veture compay Diamod Light Source Ltd, partly owed by the Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils ad partly by the Wellcome Trust. Locatio: Harwell Sciece ad Iovatio Campus, Oxfordshire. Budget ad Fudig: millio for Phases I ad II, with millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: Phase I, icludig the first seve beamlies, is due to begi operatios i Jauary 2007 ad Phase II, icludig the ext 15 beamlies, is due to be completed i Royal Research Ship James Cook (Natural Eviromet Research Coucil) The RRS James Cook is a replacemet for the RRS Charles Darwi ad is sposored by the Natural Eviromet Research Coucil. Its users will be marie scietists based, for example, at UK uiversities ad the Research Coucil s Natioal Oceaographic Cetre i Southampto. Locatio: Worldwide but maily Atlatic waters built i Polad ad Norway. Budget ad Fudig: 40 millio, of which 25 millio will come from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: The ship was delivered to the Natioal Oceaographic Cetre i August ISIS Neutro Source, Secod Target Statio (Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils) The ISIS Neutro ad Muo Scatterig Facility is the most powerful eutro producer of its kid i the world. The first phase of the project ivolves supplemetig the existig facilities with a secod target statio ad the istallatio of a first suite of istrumets. It will eable the ISIS sciece programme to attract ew users from the key research areas of soft matter, advaced materials ad bio-sciece. Locatio: Harwell Sciece ad Iovatio Campus, Oxfordshire. Budget ad Fudig: millio for the first phase, with millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: The experimetal programme is set to begi i October Eergy Recovery Liac Prototype (Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils) The Prototype is phase oe of the 4th Geeratio Light Source (4GLS) project. The project will use free electro lasers ad sychrotro radiatio coverig the terahertz to soft X-ray eergy regimes for ultra fast dyamic studies of matter. The first phase has bee desiged to address some of the pricipal techical challeges that would be faced i a full 4GLS facility. Locatio: Daresbury Sciece ad Iovatio Campus, Cheshire. Budget ad Fudig: 21.3 millio, with 10.1 millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: Full operatioal eergy recovery by April Halley VI Atarctic Research Statio (Natural Eviromet Research Coucil) The project ivolves the buildig of the Halley VI Atarctic research statio ad the removal of the existig statio, Halley V. Halley provides a uique locatio for moitorig climate, ozoe ad space weather ad forms a key part of the UK s regioal presece. The primary users of Halley VI will come from withi the British Atarctic Survey, a istitute of NERC. Locatio: Atarctic Ice Shelf. Budget ad Fudig: 34.7 millio for both costructio of Halley VI ( 26.2 millio) ad decommissioig of Halley V (8.5 millio). The Large Facilities Capital Fud is providig 20 millio for costructio. Delivery: Delivery of Halley VI ad decommissioig of Halley V by ed of Atarctic summer. Source: Natioal Audit Office NOTES 1 Project summaries set out the positio as at autum More detail o each of the te projects is provided i Appedix millio for the redevelopmet of the Istitute for Aimal Health is beig provided by the Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs. 8 Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities

7 High Ed Computig Terascale Resource (HECToR) (Egieerig ad Physical Scieces Research Coucil) HECToR is the ext geeratio of high performace computer. It is the resposibility of Egieerig ad Physical Scieces Research Coucil ad will succeed the CSAR ad HPCx computer services. Users will spa several fields of sciece icludig computatioal chemistry, physics ad climate modellig. Locatio: depedet o tederers proposals. Budget ad Fudig: 65 millio i total; 52 millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: Phase I scheduled to start i September Muo Ioisatio Coolig Experimet (MICE) (Particle Physics ad Astroomy Research Coucil is the lead coucil. The experimet is hosted by the Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils) The Muo Ioisatio Coolig Experimet is a step towards the possible creatio of a eutrio factory which would aid the uderstadig of the properties of eutrios oe of the fudametal particles which make up the uiverse. MICE seeks to demostrate that muo coolig makig a tightly focused muo beam is possible through a process of ioisatio. Locatio: Harwell Sciece ad Iovatio Campus, Oxfordshire. Budget ad Fudig: Phase I of MICE will cost 22.7 millio. Of this, the UK will fud 9.7 millio, of which 7.5 millio will come from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: Phase I is set to be complete by November Istitute for Aimal Health (Biotechology ad Biological Scieces Research Coucil) The Istitute is resposible for research, diagostics ad surveillace o epizootic (fast spreadig) viral diseases of farm aimals. The project ivolves buildig a ew laboratory for the Istitute s staff ad employees of the Virology Departmet of the Veteriary Laboratories Agecy (part of the Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs). Locatio: Pirbright, Surrey. Budget ad Fudig: Curret approved cost is 121 millio with 31 millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. 2 Delivery: The mai laboratory buildig is scheduled for delivery i December Research Complex (Medical Research Coucil) ad Essetial Ifrastructure (Coucil for the Cetral Laboratory of the Research Coucils) The project will provide a research laboratory, hostel accommodatio ad other ifrastructure to eable scietists to make optimum use of the Diamod Sychrotro, ISIS ad other facilities at Harwell. Locatio: Harwell Sciece ad Iovatio Campus, Oxfordshire. Budget ad Fudig: 33.5 millio for the Complex ad ifrastructure, with 32.4 millio from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: The mai elemet of the ifrastructure programme a ew hostel for visitig scietists was delivered i July The Research Complex is set for completio i Jue Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Medical Research Coucil) The Laboratory of Molecular Biology opeed i 1962 ad is ackowledged as oe of the world s leadig biochemical laboratories with users from the fields of immuology, cacer biology ad biotechology. The LMB project will provide a ew, moder laboratory buildig o the curret hospital campus. Locatio: Addebrooke s Hospital Site, Cambridge. Budget ad Fudig: 155 millio, of which 67 millio will come from the Large Facilities Capital Fud. Delivery: buildig due to be available May Big Sciece: Public ivestmet i large scietific facilities 9