1 Introduction
1. As the end of the 2010-2015 Parliament approaches,
we have taken the opportunity to look back on our work. This Report
outlines some of the Committee's work, progress and effectiveness
during this Parliament and sets out areas that may be of interest
to our successor committee. It has, of course, also given us the
opportunity to scrutinise what actions the Government has taken
with regard to issues and recommendations raised in our reports
and to seek updates and explanations in respect of responses to
those reports.
2. Our responsibility is to scrutinise the Government
Office for Science and consequently we may examine any issue relating
to how that department facilitates the use of science, scientific
advice and evidence and technology across all government departments.
We have held inquiries covering a range of policy areas, including
practical science experiments and field trips[1],
malware and cyber crime,[2]
medical implants,[3] marine
science[4] and scientific
advice and evidence in emergencies.[5]
3. The table below sets out headline figures reflecting
the more tangible elements of our work:
| Session
2010-12
| Session
2012-13
| Session
2013-14
| Session
2014-15
| Total
|
| Meetings | 67
| 36 | 44
| 28 | 175
|
| Reports | 15
| 9 | 9
| 9 | 42
|
Special
Reports |
11 | 6
| 9 | 4
| 30 |
| Witnesses | 262
| 104 | 160
| 142 | 668
|
| Inquiries | 29
| 14 | 19
| 14 | 76
|
| Written evidence | 834
| 264 | 526
| 292 | 1,916
|
4. We have received written and oral evidence for
our inquiries from a hugely diverse range of stakeholders, and
we are grateful for the time and effort they have taken to contribute
to our work. We have also benefitted from having committee staff
with strong scientific backgrounds as they have been able to assist
us with the more detailed aspects of our work. One of the principal
aims of our work is to ensure that government policy is as well
informed and evidence-based as possible, and it is only thanks
to the written and oral evidence that we receive from stakeholders
and the input of our scientifically qualified staff that we can
achieve this aim.
5. For this legacy inquiry, we have focused our efforts
and resources on those government departments that have most frequently
featured in our inquiries and on those inquiries for which we
consider there is a high level of public interest. We have not
included our most recent inquiries because our reports or the
Government's official responses have only very recently been published[6].
We issued a call for written evidence on the following terms of
reference:
a) Has the Government made progress in those
areas it agreed with Committee recommendations?
b) Where the Government agreed with the principles
of the Committee's conclusions but not the recommended approach,
has the Government introduced alternative approaches that have
worked?
c) Are there issues raised during the Committee's
inquiries still unresolved?
d) Have Committee reports had an impact in raising
issues that may otherwise have been neglected.
e) Have Committee reports had an influence outside
of Government? For example on the policy and practice of industry
and universities?
6. We received 20 pieces of written evidence and
held three oral evidence sessions with the Government Chief Scientific
Adviser and Government Ministers representing the following departments:
a) Department for Business, Innovation &
Skills
b) Department for Education
c) Department for Environment, Food & Rural
Affairs
d) Department of Health
e) Government Office for Science
f) Home Office
7. In addition, we sought written updates on our
relevant reports from the Cabinet Office and the Department for
Energy and Climate Change. We would like to thank everyone for
their contribution to this inquiry.
8. This Report is broken down into three sections.
Chapter 2 sets out a range of key themes emerging from the evidence
we have received during this Parliament and that we consider to
be particularly important. Chapter 3 considers some of the Committee's
achievements, both from a policy and operational perspective.
The annexes consider, in more detail, the work, since our inquiries,
of the government departments referred to above and set out a
number of areas where those departments still have significant
work to do.
1 Science and Technology Committee, Ninth Report of
Session 2010-12, Practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips,
HC 1060-I Back
2
Science and Technology Committee, Twelfth Report of Session 2010-12,
Malware and cyber crime, HC1537 Back
3
Science and Technology Committee, Fifth Report of Session 2012-13,
Regulation of medical implants in the EU and UK, HC 163 Back
4
Science and Technology Committee, Ninth Report of Session 2012-13,
Marine science, HC 727 Back
5
Science and Technology Committee, Third Report of Session 2010-11,
Scientific advice and evidence in emergencies, HC 498 Back
6
GM foods and application of the precautionary principle in Europe;
Current and future uses of biometric data and technologies; National
Health Screening; Social media data and real time analytics Back
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