5. THE
ORGANISATION OF
SCIENTIFIC ADVICE
TO GOVERNMENT
5.1. This section discusses the roles of
the key players in the provision of scientific advice across Government.
As described in section 2, it is down to individual departments
to put in place the systems they require in order to ensure that
scientific advice is taken into account in the formulation of
their policy. But it is important that the mechanisms are in place
to ensure that this work is suitably co-ordinated.
Ministers and the Council for Science and Technology
5.2. The President of the Board of Trade
is the Cabinet Minister with responsibility for transdepartmental
scientific and technological issues, and is supported by the Minister
for Science, Energy and Industry. Within each Department there
is a Minister with designated responsibility for ensuring that
their department complies with the OST Guidelines (see para 2.7
above and Annex A)[4].
Transdepartmental S&T issues are also considered as necessary
by a range of Cabinet Committees, including EA and ENV.
5.3. The Government's premier scientific
advisory body is the Council for Science and Technology (CST).
This was originally established in autumn 1993 to provide the
Government with independent, high level advice on science and
technology policy following in the tradition of previous bodies
such as ACARD (the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development)
and ACOST (the Advisory Council on Science and Technology). Following
consultations and review, the Council has recently been re-established
with new terms of reference and 14 independent members, in order
to increase its effectiveness, profile and prominence. The revised
Terms of Reference and membership are at Annex B[5].
It will continue to be chaired by the President of the Board of
Trade on behalf of the Prime Minister, with the Chief Scientific
Adviser as Deputy Chairman.
The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and
the OST
5.4. The Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA),
Sir Robert May, is responsible for advising the Prime Minister,
the Cabinet and the President of the Board of Trade—in her
capacity as Cabinet Minister for Science—on science and
technology issues[6].
As Head of the Office of Science and Technology (OST), he is also
responsible for its transdepartmental functions. These include
advising Ministers on issues arising on S&T expenditure and
effort across Government (including offering advice to PX (the
Cabinet Public Expenditure Committee)), and co-ordinating activity
on strategic issues, in relation to funding, balance and direction
of S&T activity; managerial or good practice issues; and key
cross-departmental policy issues in which S&T advice is a
significant factor. The CSA is supported in these by the Transdepartmental
Science and Technology Group (TDST) of the OST.
5.5. As the focal point for cross-Government
business, one important role of TDST is support for the Official
Cabinet Committee on S&T (EASO), jointly with the Cabinet
Secretariat. This committee, chaired by the Chief Scientific Adviser,
has representatives from all the main S&T spending departments
(generally Chief Scientists where these exist) and is the main
official forum for the discussion of S&T issues of cross Government
interest. EASO was responsible for the cross-departmental review
of issues discussed in para 2.3 and is the primary forum for the
discussion of S&T management across departments.
5.6. In addition, OST is responsible for
a number of specific transdepartmental activities, including:
— managing and developing the national
Foresight programme;
— developing the LINK framework for
collaborative R&D partnerships between business, academia
and Government, including support for the independent LINK Board;
— developing and representing the UK's
S&T interests internationally, both in Europe (eg the fifth
European Framework Programme) and more widely;
— supporting the Science and Engineering
Base Co-ordinating Committee (SEBCC) which considers transdepartmental
issues affecting the Science and Engineering Base. SEBCC is chaired
by the Chief Scientific Adviser;
— promoting the participation of women
in S&T through the Women in S&T Unit; and
— promoting public understanding of
science through activities such as National SET Week.
5.7. The Transdepartmental Science &
Technology Group (TDST) has a general and more open-ended responsibility
to support the CSA in keeping all publicly funded S&T related
activity under review and ensuring that important cross-cutting
issues are effectively handled.The Group's role in this area is
to act as advisor and facilitator, involving, for example:
— helping to flag up strategic issues
from a broader perspective than that of any single Department;
— working with other Departments to
identify good practice in handling of S&T issues; and
— contributing, from its central position,
to advice to Ministers collectively on major S&T policy issues.
5.8. The TDST Group discharges these responsibilities
by taking a central, independent position and addressing issues
impartially. Although it is co-located in OST with the Science
and Engineering Base Group (SEB—which has responsibility
for the Research Councils—see below) and is part of the
Department of Trade and Industry, TDST maintains its independence
and deals with both the Research Councils and wider DTI interests
in S&T on exactly the same basis as other Departments.
The Director General of Research Councils (DGRC)
and the Research Councils
5.9. The Director General of Research Councils,
Sir John Cadogan, is responsible for supporting and advising the
President of the Board of Trade on the successful operation of
the seven Research Councils in pursuit of their missions. This
includes advising on the allocation of the £1.3 billion Science
Budget from which the Research Councils are funded, and articulating
a broad framework, reflecting Government and other priorities,
in which the Councils can decide what science to fund and how.
He is supported by the Science and Engineering Base Group of the
OST.
5.10. The role of the SEB Group is to ensure
that programmes funded by the Science Budget meet the country's
future requirements for highly-qualified scientists and engineers
and for fundamental and strategic research. The SEB Group is responsible
for sponsorship of the seven Research Councils (Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Economic and Social
Research Council (ESRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), Natural
Environment Research Council (NERC), Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council (PPARC) and the Central Laboratory of the Research
Councils (CCLRC)), which are funded from the Science Budget. It
also sponsors the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering,
both of which are funded in part from the Science Budget.
5.11. The Research Councils' mission is
to support high quality basic, strategic and applied research
and related postgraduate training in the areas of science for
which they are responsible, which meets the needs of their user
communities; and to provide advice, disseminate knowledge and
promote public understanding of their scientific fields. The Councils
provide advice in a variety of ways, for example through membership
of advisory committees, the Chief Executives' regular meetings
with the Director Generals of Research Councils and in response
to specific requests from Government. The Research Councils' mission
to support the Science and Engineering Base means that one of
their most important contributions to providing advice is the
indirect one of maintaining the health of the Science and Engineering
Base so that it can respond to unexpected needs (eg research on
TSEs). In many cases, Research Councils have established concordats
with Departments with which they share common interests: examples
include the Health Departments/MRC concordat, NERC's with DETR,
ESRC's with Treasury, and EPSRC's with MOD.
The Department Components
5.12. As already noted, the approach to
the procurement of scientific advice adopted by departments depends
on their particular circumstances. A number of the departments
provided us with additional material during the preparation of
this memo (which we have attached for the Committee's information
at Annex F).
Chief Scientists
5.13. A number of departments have a Chief
Scientist or equivalent. A list of these along with terms of reference
where available is at Annex C[7]
(which also includes a copy of the "Fairclough Guidelines"
which set out criteria for departments to apply in considering
the responsibilities of such posts). Their roles can be considered
analogous within their Department to that of the CSA across departments—to
ensure that the research commissioned by the Department addresses
and underpins policy needs; that it is good science and makes
up a balanced programme; that it represents value for money; and
that it is commissioned, monitored, reviewed and evaluated effectively.
In addition they have primary responsibility, as members of EASO
(para 5.5 above), for ensuring that procedures within their department
are consistent with the OST guidelines.
Public Sector Research Establishments
5.14. Public Sector Research Establishments
(PSREs) are a key element of the Government's science and technology
advisory system. A list of the current PSREs is at Annex D. The
role of each PSRE is defined in their individual mission statements,
but in general their aims can be described in the following way
(though some aspects are more important in some PSREs than in
others):
— the support of basic, strategic and
applied research, with the aims of advancing technology and knowledge;
— providing support for the statutory,
regulatory and policy formation roles of Government Departments;
— contributing more widely to economic
competitiveness, sustainable wealth creation and the quality of
life in the United Kingdom; and
— providing trained scientists and
engineers.
5.15. PSREs are sponsored by Government
departments who commission research from them to support departmental
policies (also listed in Annex D). Contractual arrangements vary:
there may be long term contracts, particularly where departments
need unique and specialist facilities not available elsewhere;
equally PSREs are increasingly competing, alongside others, for
R&D work which is competitively tendered.
5.16. The 1994 Multi-Departmental Scrutiny
of PSREs, and the resulting prior options reviews in 1995 and
1996, led to a number of structural changes in these establishments.
A number of establishments were privatised, for example the Building
Research Establishment and the Laboratory of the Government Chemist,
but the majority remained in the public sector, where various
efficiency measures are being implemented.
Government advisory bodies
5.17. A list of the principal departmental
advisory bodies, with their terms of reference, is attached at
Annex E.[8]
These have been categorised into:
(a) bodies which advise Government on the
current state of play in specific areas of science;
(b) bodies which advise Government on policy
more generally but where science and scientific advances are still
a paramount consideration or driver; and
(c) bodies whose work relates primarily to
science and technology support programmes or its funding.
For committees in category A, we have provided
the current chairperson and terms of reference, for the others
simply the names. Where a committee is formed of officials only
this has been indicated next to its name.
Other sources of advice
5.18. More widely, the Government works
closely with a range of other organisations as appropriate. Importantly,
these include the Learned Bodies (the Royal Society, the Royal
Academy of Engineering, the Professional Institutes &c) and
independent bodies of experts (eg the Standing Committee on Structural
Safety). In addition, the Government benefits from the advice
of both Houses of Parliament, through the Science and Technology
Committees of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as
well as from the work of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee
and the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST).
June 1998
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