Financing public research in the United Kingdom

At a time when France is considering a reform of its research and innovation structure in which part of the funding of the laboratories could come fromspecialised agencies with their own projects, it is particularly appropriate to get a better understanding of how the British system works. In the United Kingdom, as well as the finance given by the Higher Education Funding Councils, each Research Council provides funding for research projects in its specific area. How does one ensure the efficiency and the impartiality of such a system ? How does one avoid the possible negative side effects that threaten a programme which is almost entirely based on assessment systems by peer groups and in particular the Research Assessment Exercise ?