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Science Review of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice

18 December 2007

A new study examining how the Home Office and Ministry of Justice manage and use science as part of their planning and policy-making was published today by Sir David King, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser.

The report is the fifth in a series examining how Government departments can continue to improve their use of science.

The report commends the departments for their overall management of science. In particular, it notes that they have good processes for the commissioning, tendering and appraisal of science; that there is good natural and social science expertise in the department; and that science commissioned by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice is consistently relevant to policy and delivery design.

The report also commends examples of the use of secondees in the Home Office, e.g. from the police or other Government departments.

The report recommends that:

  • The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice should develop a more strategic approach to identifying the need for new science at a sufficiently early stage, including commissioning work in areas that cut across sectoral boundaries.
  • Strategic science should be underpinned by a more prominent role, on the departmental Board, for the Chief Scientific Adviser.
  • There is a need for consistently effective cross-disciplinary working within the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and with other Government departments, especially between the natural and social sciences.
  • There is a need to overcome the 'cultural' obstacles to the use of science in policy making.
  • Greater use should be made of external science expertise, including greater roles for the departments' formal advisory groups.

The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King said:

The Home Office is using science well in a number of areas and overall its management of Science represents good practice. Many Whitehall departments could usefully develop the science management processes used in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice.

However natural and social sciences are not consistently used across the departments; in some areas the use of science is poor. Both departments need to strengthen their strategic science capacity, improve horizon scanning and foster cross-disciplinary working.

One area I am particularly concerned about is the publication of scientific results; although publication is much improved, there are still instances of publication being unduly delayed or blocked. This needs to change

Notes to Editors

  1. A copy of the full report is available at: http://www.dius.gov.uk/publications/ho_moj_sciencereview.pdf
  2. The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, has set up a rolling programme of reviews to assess the quality and use of science by Government departments. For the purposes of the reviews a broad definition of 'science' is used, which includes natural sciences and social sciences.
  3. The overall aims of the review programme are to:
    • maintain and improve the quality and use of science in Government;
    • review existing departmental systems for assuring the quality, management and use of their science;
    • disseminate examples of best practice from within the UK and abroad; and,
    • inform and support the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser in his role of advising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on the overall health of science and scientific research funded by Government departments.
  4. To formulate a view on the quality and use of science in the Home Office, and Ministry of Justice, the review focused on ten success criteria that underpin good practice in the use of science by Government departments, to identify both areas of good practice, especially those that could be adopted elsewhere, as well as areas for improvement (see the website for details).
  5. The first Science Review, of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, was published in October 2004. Subsequently, the Review of the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs was published in December 2006; the Review of the Health and Safety Executive was published in February this year; and, the review of Communities and Local Government was published in March this year. A review of the Department of Health is underway and due to report next spring. Further reviews will be announced in the New Year.