Here is a copy of the official statement on the regrouping policy. It came to me with this covering note from the Secretary of the SRC:
I thought you would like to have copy of the SRC circular which is being issued today to explain to the staff the decisions taken by Council at its April meeting. The circular will probably be on the staff notice boards on Monday, 5 May.
Since the specialist computing press showed interest in the regrouping proposals when they were announced last year we thought it would be advisable to issue a short press statement on the regrouping. I also enclose a copy of this statement which is simply a condensation of the staff notice. We propose to issue the press statement on the afternoon of Tuesday, 6 May, so that the first occasion on which there might be any reference to the matter in the papers should be Wednesday, 7 May.
R St J Walker
2 May 1975
The Chairman of the SRC will be speaking to the Laboratory here at 2.15 pm tomorrow , Tuesday 6 May; it is clearly inappropriate for me to make any comment on the decisions now announced, I must, however, comment on paragraph 5, which refers to my retirement. I expect to go, as the notice says, before the end of 1975; just when depends on personal discussions between myself and SRC, and I will let you know as soon as I can. I am sure I don't need to tell you that I shall leave with very strong feelings of loss; but I shall be 63 in August and I am quite sure that it is far better for the Laboratory to have someone fresh to take it through this period of change into a different but just as exciting and rewarding future.
J Howlett
Director
The Science Research Council has, after consultation with all parties concerned, including its Staff Side, taken a number of decisions about the regrouping of activities in its Establishments.
Support for High Energy Physics will be concentrated at the Rutherford Laboratory. Work at the Daresbury Laboratory in preparation for CERN experiments which are already approved, such as the e gamma and muon programmes, will continue there, but work in support of all new proposals will be the responsibility of Rutherford Laboratory. Any HEP work undertaken at Daresbury, after the end of 1978 (ie one year after the closure of NINA) will be carried out only at the request of and under the policy direction of, the Director of the Rutherford Laboratory.
A substantial part of the computing now carried out at the Atlas Computer Laboratory to advance a wide range of sciences will be transferred to the Daresbury Laboratory where it will support a growing variety of work. The transfer will begin in 1976 and take several years to complete.
The Council has decided to set up an Interactive Computing Facility and that part of the Atlas Computer Laboratory remaining at Chilton will form the basis of it. The Council are also considering with the Department of Industry the establishment at Chilton of a national computing campus to which the interactive facility would be the initial SRC contribution. A further announcement will be made later.
Specific plans for redeployment of staff will be worked out progressively in consultation with the staff and trade union sides.
