Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Science and Technology Committee
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 122 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 ( download)
Book Synopsis Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence Based Policy Making by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Science and Technology Committee
Download or read book Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence Based Policy Making written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Science and Technology Committee and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents the Committee's findings on the operation of the scientific advisory system as a whole. It builds on the case studies covered in three previous reports on MRI safety, the illegal drugs classification, and ID card technologies. The Committee recommends that the role of Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) be split from that of Head of the Office of Science and Innovation, to enable full attention to be given to the GCSA's cross-departmental functions. The GCSA would be better placed in a department, such as the Cabinet Office, which has cross-departmental responsibilities. The establishment of departmental CSAs is welcomed, but more needs to be done to ensure they maximize their contribution to strategic decision making and policy development within departments. The report also recommends the establishment of a Government Scientific Service to enhance scientific support in the civil service, and calls for greater involvement of learned societies and professional bodies in the advisory system. The Committee wants greater public investment in research to underpin evidence-based policy making, with the establishment of a cross-departmental fund to commission independent research. The short-term nature of the political cycle should be counterbalanced by embedding horizon scanning into the policy-making process. Transparency in policy making has improved, but more could be done. Valuable work on risk should be continued, and responsible coverage of risk by the media should be encouraged by greater involvement of departmental CSAs and greater clarity and consistency in public communication.