asked Her Majesty's Government:What they are funding for (a) polar research, (b) Antarctic research and (c) Arctic polar research and how these allocations have changed over the last 10 years.
Most research specific to the polar regions is undertaken by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The table below shows the council's expenditure for Arctic, Antarctic and polar research over the past 10 years.A number of other departments and agencies (including the Ministry of Defence, the Department of the Environment, and the Economic and Social Research Council) undertake or support polar research. However, much of this overlaps with research carried out in other scientific and geographical areas and the expenditure details could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
| NERC expenditure on polar research: 1986–87 to 1995–96 | |||
| Arctic total expenditure | Antarctic expenditure | Total polar expenditure | |
| FY | £k | £k | £k |
| 1995–96 | 1,356.6 | 29,283.9 | 30,640.5 |
| 1994–95 | 2,251.1 | 26,909.5 | 29,160.6 |
| 1993–94 | 1,644.5 | 23,592.6 | 25,237.1 |
| 1992–93 | 1,489.2 | 24,141.5 | 25,630.7 |
| 1991–92 | 1,903.4 | 27,764.7 | 29,668.1 |
| 1990–91 | 1,653.8 | 48,648.7 | 50,302.5 |
| 1989–90 | 971.8 | 34,321.7 | 35,293.5 |
| 1988–89 | 958.1 | 28,413.3 | 29,371.4 |
| 1987–88 | 1,112.6 | 18,566.1 | 19,678.7 |
| 1986–87 | 1,150.1 | 12,655.7 | 13,805.8 |