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CaSE E-Bulletin January 2010
In This E-Bulletin
Principles on Scientific Advice
Pre-Budget REport
Voting Science
CaSE News
CaSE Annual Lecture
Forthcoming deadlines
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Diary Highlights

17/12/09 CaSE met with Prospect

16/12/09 CaSE met with civil servants from the Department of Children, Schools and Families

14/12/09 CaSE attended a Royal Society of Chemistry reception at the House of Commons

14/12/09 Nick Dusic met with Bristow Muldoon from the Royal Society of Chemistry and Royal Society of Edinburgh

10/12/09 CaSE held its Annual Distinguished Lecture 2009

07/12/09 CaSE met with Ian Taylor MP

04/12/09 CaSE met with the Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University

04/12/09 CaSE met with Colin Blakmore

04/12/09 CaSE met with the Society for Experimental Biology

03/12/09 Nick Dusic attended a Royal Society event on scientific advice in government alongside Science Minister Lord Drayson

03/12/09 Nick Dusic met with Gary Kass from the Wellcome Collection

03/12/09 Hilary Leevers met with EngineeringUK, formerly named the Engineering and Technology Board

01/12/09 Hilary Leevers attended Reform's Core Business policy launch

01/12/09 Nick Dusic attended a workshop event at the Royal Society with Lord Drayson

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Government Principles on Scientific Advice

The Government has published a draft set of Principles for Scientific Advice to Government following the controversy surrounding the dismissal of Professor Nutt. Overall the draft Principles are a step in the right direction. However, there is concern about the inclusion that the Government and its scientific advisers should work together to reach a shared position and neither should act to undermine mutual trust. For further analysis read the CaSE Notes post.

Professor John Beddington will be looking to incorporate the Principles into the revised Guidelines on Scientific Analysis for Policymaking (see below), which CaSE will be responding to.
Pre-Budget Report
The government's Pre Budget Report 2009 announced �600 million of savings to be found in the higher education and science and research budgets. It also annouced an additional investment of �200 million in the Strategic Investment Fund to support innovative industrial projects across the UK.

CaSE's response was that the Chancellor sent mixed signals about the future of science and innovation in the UK by looking for a significant cut in investment in the nation's research and skills base, whilst providing support for innovation that stems from it.
Voting Science
Our latest blog post by Hilary Leevers argues that science and engineering issues need to feature in the run up to the General Election and outlines some of the work that CaSE is doing to achieve this. Voters need to know where the parties stand on science and engineering issues and prospective MPs need to become engaged with them before the successful ones enter Westminster.
CaSE News Published
The December issue of CaSE News has been published. As well as a round-up of recent science and engineering policy developments, it includes articles by Simon Singh, Tim Bradshaw from the CBI and a CaSE feature on reaching 2.5% of GDP to be invested in R&D.
CaSE Annual Distinguished Lecture
The Governments Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor John Beddington, gave the 2009 CaSE Annual Lecture last month, hosted by the Wellcome Trust and sponsored by Engineering UK and Prospect. Titled "Science in Government: Challenges for the 21st Century", Professor Beddington spoke about the function and mechanisms of science advice in government, in the context of three major global issues: swine flu, food security and climate change.

Slides from Professor Beddington's presentation
Forthcoming deadlines

Enquiry into Further Education Funding and the Skills Funding Agency
BIS Select Committee
Deadline: 11 January 2010

Guidelines on Scientific Analysis in Policy Making
Government Office for Science
Deadline: 9 February 2010
For more information on our activities go to our website www.sciencecampaign.org.uk
 
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