Report on the Evaluation of the Responses for the Rural Affairs and Environment Research Strategy for 2016-2021 Consultation

Introduction

The Scottish Government is a significant funder of science in the Rural Affairs, Food and Environment sectors, investing over £50 million of funding each year in a portfolio of strategic science and research.

Most of this research is carried out through the Scottish Government's Main Research Providers (MRPs^[1]). Research in these institutes differs from universities in being both directed and long-term. In addition, specific initiatives to increase utilisation of results from that research are also supported. Three Centres of Expertise have been established which deliver policy-relevant advice, while the two Strategic Partnerships seek to create bridges between the science carried out in the MRPs and industry.

Scottish Government funding of science forms an important part of Scotland's science base, enhancing Scotland's reputation for excellence and relevance in rural, agricultural and environmental research.

As part of identifying the Scottish Government's future needs and priorities for the Rural Affairs, Food and Environment portfolio, a public consultation on the Scottish Government's proposals for the next funding period (2016-2021) and the strategy behind it, was held between 28 February and 25 April 2014.

The distribution of the consultation was entirely online, with the key stakeholders in the wider public sector, academia, industry and voluntary sectors, alerted to the publication of the consultation.

The consultation on the draft Research Strategy 2016-2021 sought to set out a high level vision for that period, seeking comments on:

• the key underlying principles for the future funding of the programme,
• the priority outcomes and themes for future support,
• funding and delivery mechanisms; and
• knowledge exchange and performance management approaches to be adopted.

Since the consultation closed, all responses that we were given permission to publish have been made public on the Scottish Government website.

This report contains an assessment of the responses obtained in the consultation, and details of how we intend to revise the draft Research Strategy 2016-2021.

Analysis and reporting

Given the open nature of many of the questions posed, and the additional narrative which accompanied most responses to the individual questions, a thematic analysis of the consultation responses was carried out, based around a structured template.

Due to the low number of total responses, the number responding to each question and the numbers of non-respondents are also reported. In the case of a number of questions, there was a high level of non-response, but this should not necessarily be inferred as indicating those respondents have no views on the topic at hand.

For textual responses, qualitative analysis sought to identify key issues and themes per question. All comments made by respondents at each open question were noted. As the range of issues mentioned in responses were often highly varied, grouping these issues proved difficult. Therefore, in many cases, a listing of the main topics raised by one or more respondents has been provided in the analysis of results.

Wherever possible, views offered from respondents that did not match the specific question to which it was attributed were still noted and assessed.

While the consultation gave those who wished to comment an opportunity to do so, figures quoted here cannot be extrapolated to a wider population outwith the respondent sample.

As it is important for the analysis to represent views from all perspectives, the report may also contain analysis from responses that may be based on a misunderstanding or on misinformation but that, nevertheless, reflect strongly held views. In a number of instances (e.g. in relation to visibility of knowledge exchange activities) these may in themselves be relevant findings.

Responses

Seventy five stakeholders were contacted directly to make them aware of the publication of the consultation. The organisations contacted represented a wide range of potentially interested parties, spanning research funders, industry and non-governmental organisations. Bodies representative of wider groupings (e.g. trade organisations) were also targeted as potential conduits for wider dissemination of the consultation.

A total of 43 responses were received, which broke down into the following categories:

The responses are weighted towards either current research providers or other researcher groups (Annex 2). However, the mix of responses taken as a group is relatively even, with key stakeholder groups including industry bodies, civil society and NDPBs represented in the responses.