Council for Science and Technology

Not to be confused with Science Council.

Council for Science and Technology

Non-departmental public body overview
Formed	1993;33 years ago (1993)
Preceding Non-departmental public body	Advisory Council on Science and Technology
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Status	Active
Headquarters	London, England
Non-departmental public body executives	Lord Browne of Madingley, Independent Co-Chair Dame Angela McLean, Government Chief Scientific Adviser Co-Chair
Website	www.gov.uk/government/organisations/council-for-science-and-technology

The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government. Its role is to give advice on issues that cut across government departments to the Prime Minister. It was established in 1993 and reconstituted in 2003. It is based in London.

Evolution

From the 1970s, a small number of matters in industry and environment began to require specialist advice to support specific items of government policy beyond the general expertise of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA). The advisory functions now in the CST were performed by the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development (ACARD), from 1976 to 1987, and the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST) from 1987 to 1993. ^{[1] [2]}

The CST was formed in 1993 to advise the prime minister and periodic reviews have been conducted since then, most significantly in 2003. The Royal Society responded to the call for evidence to suggest adopting the independent co-chair model used in the USA. ^[3] Although the review itself specified two options, an independent chair or the GCSA chairing, ^[4] the government response chose the co-chair model used today. ^[5] The 2003 review also saw a change to include wider societal expertise, covering economics, health, and ethics which could better identify policy implications and the extent of the impact of innovation.^{[ citation needed ]}

Membership

The Council has 19 independent members appointed by the Prime Minister, including the presidents of the four UK-wide national academies. ^[6] The Council is headed by two co-chairs, an independent Co-Chair Lord Browne of Madingley who chairs meetings where advice is being developed, and Dame Angela McLean, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and head of the Government Office for Science, who chairs meetings reporting its advice to government. ^[7] Previous independent co-chairs include Dame Nancy Rothwell and Dame Janet Finch. Scotland has its own Scottish Science Advisory Council, so despite an intention to include devolved representation and provide advice across the UK, to the First Minister of Scotland and the First Minister for Wales, ^[8] the CST now advises the prime minister only.^{[ citation needed ]}

Advice

Advice is frequently published in the form of letters to the prime minister, including a series of recommendations, but also in reports or meetings. ^[9] Examples include the recommendation to found the Alan Turing Institute as a national centre for data science research in their 2013 letter 'the age of algorithms'. ^[10] In 2024 CST made a joint statement on shared science and technology priorities with its US counterpart, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. ^[11]

References

1. "Research Development". 1987.
2. "How research was commissioned and funded". The BSE Inquiry Report (Report). Vol. 2. The BSE Inquiry. 2009. section 6.21. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009.
3. "OST: Review of the Council for Science and Technology" (PDF). Royal Society. 14 November 2002.
4. Elizabeth Hopkins. QUINQUENNIAL REVIEW OF THE COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: FINAL REPORT (PDF) (Report). Office of Science and Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2004.
5. THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE QUINQUENNIAL REVIEW OF THE COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PDF) (Report). Office of Science and Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2004.
6. "About us". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
7. "Membership". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
8. Lord Sainsbury (17 July 2003). "Council for Science and Technology: Quinquennial Review". Hansard. Column WA177.
9. "Working with government".
10. "How expert advice inspired the national centre for data science".
11. "Joint statement from the United Kingdom's Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology and United States' President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, March 2024".