Proposed service to give UK politicians better access to researchers

Skapad:

2014-04-24

Senast uppdaterad:

2022-01-10

Politicians come into contact with science on a daily basis, whether it is through lobbying, public enquiries, media stories or policy issues. Very few Members of Parliament (MPs) have a scientific background but they need to be well informed and able to get access to reliable, unbiased information about science and technology quickly.

Here we take a look at a proposed new type of service in the UK to help connect politicians directly with the research community as well as some of the existing initiatives and bodies in Sweden and the UK that work to improve understanding and contact between researchers and policymakers.

Houses of Parliament medium

The Houses of Parliament, London – reproduced with the permission of the UK Parliament

A national consultation exercise is currently underway in the UK on a parliamentary Evidence Information Service to provide politicians and civil servants with access to a broad network of research professionals and scientific evidence to assist them in evidence-based decision-making.

Putting research evidence on tap for politicians

The main function of the EIS would be a rapid matchmaking service to put politicians and civil servants with questions about research evidence in touch with relevant researchers within 24 hours. Its role would not just be to supply facts but to help policymakers interpret data effectively and understand the nature of uncertainty in evidence. It would also work directly with researchers to develop briefings for politicians prior to parliamentary debates on specific issues of public interest. The scope of the service would include evidence-based social sciences and humanities as well as the traditional sciences and be open to the UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parliaments.

The initiative is being driven by researchers at Cardiff University, the University of Exeter, and University College London, who have spent 18 months developing the proposal in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and are now in the process of consulting individual MPs.

Getting more scientific evidence into government policy

Over the past decade in the UK, as in Sweden, evidence-based policy-making is a concept that has been promoted keenly by government. However, in reality political decisions are seldom based purely on scientific evidence. Other factors, such as law, economics, politics and public opinion also come into play. Politicians can’t be forced to listen to scientists but by providing them with better access to scientific evidence and expertise, the EIS hopes to get more science into policymaking.

To be successful, the EIS needs to be rapid, independent, trustworthy and light on bureaucracy and all participating researchers will be vetted. Its proposed operating and funding model is based on the UK’s well-respected Science Media Centre, an independent non-profit organisation that works directly with UK national news journalists to provide them with accurate evidence-based information about science and immediate access to scientific experts. It was set up in 2002 in response to a House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee report on Science and Society, which wanted to renew public trust in science.

Similar support available to Swedish politicians

In Sweden, a similar service is provided by Expertsvar (Expertanswer), a media service run by the Swedish Research Council to help journalists find an expert within the research community. The service utilises a network of press and communication officers at universities, research institutes and research councils, who identify appropriate researchers to respond to questions. On an annual basis it facilitates around 3,000 enquiries from the media. MPs and civil servants are also able to use the service, although requests from politicians are usually submitted via the Swedish Parliament’s Parliamentary Evaluation and Research Unit (PER) (Utvärderings- och forskningssekretariatet). As Lars Eriksson, a Senior Research Officer at PER, commented, many politicians appreciate being able to submit enquiries anonymously and assistance with formulating the right questions to ask. The annual number of enquiries from politicians is around 50.

Supported by three research officers, PER provides support to the Swedish Parliament’s 15 Committees on issues relating to research and the future. Each year it is assigned by the Committees to produce between 2 and 4 in depth reports on current or upcoming scientific topics that can be used in debates, committee reports and for evidence-based decisions. For example, its latest report was on the future of aviation, developed in consultation with leading Swedish researchers in the field. The unit also facilitates face-to-face knowledge sharing and discussion between researchers and politicians, through presentations and seminars. It has also held a number of science cafés for MPs and civil servants, which it organised in collaboration with VA (Public & Science).

In the UK Parliament, a similar, although more resourced, science advisory service is provided by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). The aim of POST is to inform parliamentary debate and keep politicians informed about current and emerging science and technology issues and their policy implications, which it achieves through written briefings (known as “POSTnotes”), longer reports, seminars and podcasts. It also provides direct support to parliamentary select committees and individual parliamentarians. In addition to POST’s permanent staff of nine, there are also science advisers in the Parliament’s library research services and select committee offices. Every government department also has a chief scientific adviser that reports directly to the government chief scientific adviser.

Other UK & Swedish initiatives that build links between researchers and politicians

In both Sweden and the UK there are also associated parliamentary groups that provide forums for politicians and representatives from academia and industry to debate scientific and technological topics and their relationship with political issues. In the UK, the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee regularly organises seminars and discussions for its members, which consist of around 250 universities, companies, industrial, scientific and technological organisations. In Sweden, the Society of MPs and Scientists (RIFO) (Sällskapet Riksdagsledamöter och Forskare) organises 10-12 seminars a year for its 500 members to discuss topical research issues of significance to the work of the Swedish Parliament. A challenge for both of these organisations is finding ways to get more MPs and younger audiences to attend these types of events.

There are also a number of initiatives that focus on giving scientists a better understanding of the political process, how policy is made and how they can influence it. In the UK, the Royal Society MP-Scientist Pairing Scheme has been running since 2001 and each year pairs around 20 researchers with MPs to shadow one another at work. Both MPs and civil servants can participate in the programme and researchers also spend a “Week in Westminster”, attending seminars and work shadowing their MP.

A similar programme was set up by RIFO two years ago, together with the Young Academy of Sweden (Sveriges unga akademi), and currently pairs around 5 MPs and researchers. Both of these programmes are aimed at giving researchers an insight into political decision-making and establishing links between MPs and practicing scientists.

The UK’s POST also has an ongoing fellowship scheme, sponsored by science societies and charities, in which PhD students spend three months in parliament, researching and writing a POSTnote briefing. A similar initiative by the four governmental research councils in Sweden has resulted in a number of PhD students spending time in the Swedish parliament while producing a topical report on research in a specific field of interest to the MPs. As these types of initiatives acknowledge, to improve understanding between politicians and scientists, it must be a two-way process.

Helen Garrison

Links to two Guardian articles:

Top 20 things politicians need to know about science (20 November 2013)

Top 20 things scientists need to know about policy-making (2 December 2013)

Public & Science Sweden

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Vetenskap & Allmänhet

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