Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps have been taken by Rothamsted Research to ensure that conflicts of interest arising from its strategic framework agreement with Bayer are managed and that there is no risk to the perception of independence of Rothamsted’s advice to Government.

Rothamsted Research is an independent organisation and therefore we are unable to comment on specific procedures that the charity may have in place to ensure the independence of advice. Rothamsted Research receives income from many sources. In the case of research grants received from BBSRC, Rothamsted is subject to Research Councils UK’s terms and conditions (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/grantstcs/) including adhering to best research practice, data sharing polices and access to research outputs.