What is the role of science advice in government?
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee will question the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA), Professor Dame Angela McLean, in a one-off evidence session.
The GCSA will appear alongside Departmental Chief Scientific Advisers (CSAs) of the top three spending departments – the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
This will be an opportunity for the cross-party Committee to explore the roles and responsibilities of the Scientific Advisers ahead of the upcoming spending review.
Meeting details
In the first panel, MPs will question the Departmental CSAs. Members may seek to understand their power and influence within departments, how CSA science advice will feed into the upcoming spending review, and their spending priorities. Questions may also examine views on the UK’s sovereign capabilities, and what more needs to be done to make the UK a ‘science superpower.’
In the second panel members will hear from the GCSA, who last appeared in front of the committee in July 2023. MPs may examine how priorities have shifted with the new government and the role of the GCSA in budgets and spending decisions. They could investigate how the government can regulate to encourage innovation and growth, views on how science can drive growth, and how to tackle science misinformation.