Pilot in Government & Further Action
To pilot the guidelines among government scientists, a working group was formed from the Science and Society Champions Network, a network of Government officials involved in science policy making right across the UK. The pilot began in earnest in September 2005, and reported back to Sir David King in early 2007. Five key agencies took part in the pilot, namely:
- The Environment Agency
- Veterinary Laboratories Agency
- Forestry Commission
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
- Pesticide Safety Directorate
Results were positive, and showed clearly that the Code was applicable in practical settings. All five have now made concerted efforts to promote the Code's principles to staff at all levels in their organisations. The Environment Agency was one of several organisations to give a presentation on their efforts at the BA Festival in September 2007 to show the applicability of the Code.
Following extensive promotion of the Code within Government post-pilot, the Code has been particularly warmly received by the Food Standards Agency, with its principles featuring highly in their annual report, and promoted by Chief Scientist, Dr Andrew Wadge, on his blog. Other scientific agencies and Departments, have been made aware of the code and many have plans to integrate its principles into working practices to varying degrees.
The Universal Ethical Code for Scientists is also a key element of the 2007 revised Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees (PDF), published by GO-Science, which is aimed at committees, their chairs, members and secretariats and provides a framework for scientific advisory committees to operate within.
