The Marine Science Co-ordination Committee (MSCC) is a partnership of the main Government Departments, the Devolved Administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, the Environment Agencies and research bodies involved in funding and carrying out marine science in the UK.

Background to the MSCC

© Amy Ridgeway, JNCC

The MSCC was established in 2008 in response to a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report, ‘Investigating the Oceans’. The MSCC is the successor body to the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST). 

The Committee is co-chaired by Marine Scotland and Defra. It is supported by a Secretariat that is jointly located at Defra (London) and the National Oceanography Centre (Southampton) and which is funded by MSCC members.

The MSCC’s aim is to make UK marine science more effective and efficient. It does so by co-ordinating research and delivering the UK Marine Science Strategy.

MSCC members

The MSCC is composed of senior representatives of the Government Departments, Devolved Administrations and key marine science providing bodies. Additional members include two non-executive members, an ad hominem appointment and a marine industries representative.

• Further information on our members

MSCC meetings

The MSCC meets twice a year at different venues around the UK and is alternately chaired by the Marine Directors from Defra and Marine Scotland.

• Past meetings and minutes

Terms of Reference

The purpose and structure of the MSCC are set out in its Terms of Reference.

• Terms of Reference

How the MSCC is structured

The MSCC reports directly to a group of Ministers – the Ministerial Marine Science Group.  A number of marine science groups report to the MSCC and are shown in the Governance Structure.

• Governance Structure

The Ministerial Marine Science Group

This Group oversees the work of the Marine Science Co-ordination Committee and expects to meet roughly on an annual basis. It is chaired by the UK Marine Science Minister, Richard Benyon, Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is made up of Ministers from the following Devolved Administrations and UK Government Departments:

• The Scottish Government
• Northern Ireland Executive
• Welsh Assembly Government
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
• Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
• Department for Transport (DfT)
• Department for International Development (DFID)

The Ministerial Marine Science Group report 2012 outlines progress with the MSCC and its delivery of the UK Marine Science Strategy, since the Strategy’s publication in February 2010.