British medical scientists may be getting closer to the reform of the frustrating, money-sapping, research-controlling bureaucracy they have long demanded.

Today the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences held a press conference in London to outline their review of research regulation, commissioned by the previous government. David Willetts, the new minister for science, offered his support.

“In the current fiscal climate, throwing money at a problem is simply not an option,” he said in a statement. “Creating a better, smarter operating environment for our leading science-based sectors is essential. I look forward to hearing the recommendations of this distinguished group.”

The issue of too much governance has long been bemoaned by British researchers. Just last week delegates at a British Medical Association conference unanimously voted in favour of a motion demanding reform and warning that funders were fleeing the red-tape ridden UK (see: UK doctors demand research reform).

On Tuesday (18 May) the working group set up by the Academy of Medical Sciences to consider the issue met for the first time. Its chair Michael Rawlins says he has already received dozens of emails from colleagues concerned about current rules, and over 40 official responses to the Academy’s request for comment have come in.

Among the problems being considered by panel members is the impact of the European Clinical Trials Directive, a Europe-wide piece of legislation which many consider to have been implemented especially harshly in the UK (see: European clinical trial rules under fire). Also under the spotlight is the time taken by National Health Service Trusts to approve trials.

Rawlins is chairman at the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in his day job. He and other members of his panel told journalists at the press conference that bureaucracy and delay resulting from overlapping layers of governance are stopping clinical trials from happening in the UK and reducing the size of trials that do happen.

They appear to have support in high places. Sally Davies, director of research and development at the Department of Health, also issued a statement in support of the review.

“We are all concerned about the impact of red tape and complex regulation,” she said. “I look forward with great interest to the findings of this review.”