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Useful Government-Related Links

Civil Service Science and Engineering Organisations

There is a large number of Civil Service organisations that employ scientists and engineers. The main ones of these are listed on the Key Organisations page of this site.

The Civil Service Year Book is the official online directory for all government departments, executive agencies and related organisations. You can search the directory for departmental addresses and telephone numbers and view civil service salary scales and statistical data, or as a subscriber you can access all levels of the database including organisational structures, employee names and contact details.

The Government News Network supports Government Departments in Whitehall and elsewhere and Government Offices for the Regions in their co-ordination and policy delivery programmes. It issues government news releases and media information. The web site also acts as a useful reference source.

This site is edited by Martin Stanley, who enjoyed a long career in the civil service. It is based on his book of the same title, although it is far more than a simple electronic rendition of it. The site is easy to navigate and contains a wealth of interesting, useful and entertaining information.

It includes practical advice on subjects such as "Working with Ministers" and "Benchmarking and Peer Review". It also has sections on the "Constitutional Stuff", "Civil Service Reform" and "Regulation, Science and Risk".

This site contains an overview of the way in which science, engineering and technology are organised in the UK. It includes a large number of links to other useful sources.

POST is the UK Parliament’s in-house source of independent, balanced and accessible analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology. Its aim is to inform parliamentary debate.

This site contains copies of "POST Notes" and a number of longer reports. These documents focus on current science and technology issues and aim to anticipate policy implications for parliamentarians. POST also runs seminars for members of parliament.

The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is the UK government's top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues.

CST's remit is to advise the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales on strategic issues that cut across the responsibilities of individual government departments. CST organises its work around five broad themes (research, science and society, education, science and government, and technology innovation) and takes a medium to longer-term approach.

The British National Space Centre (BNSC) is a voluntary partnership, formed from 11 Government Departments and Research Councils, to coordinate UK civil space activity. Together their expenditure on civil space amounts to around £195 million per year. 

At the centre of UK civil space policy, BNSC facilitates cooperation on the national and international level. By representing both academic and industrial interests, BNSC provides the UK space community with a strong voice in international negotiations.

Science, Engineering and Technology Statistics

These statistics provide a summary of key science, engineering and technology indicators. It is prepared by the Office of Science and Innovation in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Whilst these statistics make interesting reading, please be aware that the count of "science and engineering personnel" actually uses the ONS definition of "Research and Development". In particular, we believe that there are many more than 10 000 scientists and engineers employed by Government (excluding the Research Councils).

The Research Council Institute and PSRE Sustainability Study (RIPSS)

The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General Research Councils commissioned a study to examine how to improve the sustainability and strategic coherence of the £1.6 billion non-university public research sector. The outcome of the project was a report entitled "PSREs and the Science Base: A policy for sustainable trading and joint strategic investment in PSRE infrastructure", but it has been more commonly known as the "Research Council Institute and PSRE Sustainability Study", or the "RIPSS" project. 

The study has been discussed and welcomed by a project steering board chaired by OSI and has been endorsed by Research Councils UK, by the Chief Scientific Adviser’s Committee, and by Ministers in March 2004. The final report from the study can be downloaded from the above link.

This site acts as a showcase for UK science and technology. It is primarily intended for audiences in the United States and in Canada. However, since it provides a reasonably high-level introduction to the organisation of science (and related topics) in the UK it is likely to be of wider interest.

HM Treasury lead on managing risk within government.  Its website has a useful set of guidance, links and definitions.  It also includes information on the programme to improve risk management across government.