Why did this Admiralty reform not happen?

Who prevented this kind of Admiralty research reform from happening?

No single person did; the reform was considered but not implemented because Admiralty culture and consensus did not support it strongly enough.

The alternative combines contemplated naval-staff ideas with more formal discretionary funding. Establishing a staff could have made the proposed research programme more likely. The relevant reforms were considered but were never implemented. No single person can be assigned responsibility, since the Admiralty consensus and many Sea Lords did not support a staff.