Britain: An official handbook > 1959

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BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
The MRC administers the Public Health Laboratory Service on behalf of the
Ministry of Health.
Agricultural Research Council
The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) was established by Royal Charter in
1931. It is responsible to the Committee of the Privy Council for Agricultural
Research, consisting of the Lord President of the Council, the Minister of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Under the Agricultural Research Act, 1956, the ARC was charged with the
organisation and development of agricultural research, and an Agricultural Research
Fund was established, into which are paid the Parliamentary grant-in-aid and other
sums received by the Council, and out of which are met all expenses incurred by the
Council under the Act or in accordance with the terms of its Charter. The accounts
of the Fund are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Council consists of not more than 18 nor fewer than 15 members, five of
whom are appointed for their general experience of and interest in agriculture.
Others are appointed by the Committee of the Privy Council, after consultation
with the President of the Royal Society, on account of their qualifications in one or
other of the sciences relating to agriculture. Included in the Council’s membership
are the Chief Scientific Adviser (Agriculture) and the Chief Veterinary Officer of
the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, also one member appointed by
the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and one by the Secretary of State
for Scotland. The Council has 19 research stations and units under its direct control
in Great Britain.
Since 1st April, 1956, when the Agricultural Research Act came into force,
responsibility for the administration and financing of the independent research
institutes in England and Wales (but not in Scotland) was transferred to the Council
from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The programmes of all these
institutes are co-ordinated and approved by the Council and are integrated with
those of the independent research institutes in Scotland and of the institutes and
units directly controlled and financed by the Council.
The Council makes grants to universities and other recognised research institu¬
tions for special investigations, and awards research fellowships and postgraduate
studentships in agricultural and veterinary science, agricultural and dairy engineer¬
ing and statistics.
Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy was established by Royal Charter in 1949 and is
directly responsible to the Lord President of the Council as Chairman of the Privy
Council Committee for Nature Conservation. Its functions, as summarised in the
charter, are ‘to provide scientific advice on the conservation and control of the
natural flora and fauna of Great Britain; to establish, maintain and manage nature
reserves in Great Britain, including the maintenance of physical features of scientific
interest; and to organise and develop the research and scientific service related
thereto’.
Research stations have been set up by the Conservancy at Merlewood, Grange-
over-Sands in Lancashire, and Furzebrook, Wareham in Dorset, and field stations
at Moor House, Westmorland, and at Anancaun, Ross-shire, where long-term
ecological research is undertaken into such problems as the relation of vegetation
to soils and climates, peat growth, effects of grazing and of moor burning, coastal
erosion, roadside spraying and the spread of myxomatosis. Grants are made for
research, and the Conservancy awards a number of postgraduate studentships
annually.