Commons' technology committee faces axe

But chairman Phil Willis says there is strong case for maintaining independent scrutiny

Brown's machinery of government changes threaten committee

The influential House of Commons Science and Technology committee is facing abolition following Gordon Brown's machinery of government changes.

Labour chief whip Geoff Hoon is considering the future of the committee, following the absorption of the old Office of Science and Technology into the newly-created Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Dius).

The parliamentary group convened to consider the work of Dius would potentially include the remit of the existing Science and Technology committee.

But committee chairman Phil Willis says there is a strong case for maintaining an independent scientific scrutiny body.

In a letter to Hoon, Willis argues that a separate group would enable the departmental committee to focus on departmental issues, and allow the independent committee to consider scientific issues behind the full range of government policies.

'Given the government’s focus on evidence-based policy-making and the wide consensus on the value of science in our society, this is the wrong time to downgrade or reduce the scrutiny of cross-cutting science issues within parliament,' says the letter.

'The strong view amongst the science community is that such scrutiny is best carried out by a select committee with a clear identity and a clear mission,' it says.