Every United Kingdom Public Service Department needs to take science into consideration and invest more in research and development to boost growth, according to the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser.
Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance said placing more priority on science would lead to greater military security, more resilience to future threats from pandemics and climate change, and would also boost the country’s economy.
“The current Government seems to have quite a focus on growth, and if you want growth, then you have to have science, engineering and technology,” Sir Patrick (pictured) said.
“If you look around the world today, eight out of the top 10 companies, the biggest, fastest-growing companies, are science and technology companies,” he said.
“If you look at the relationship between Government research and development (R&D) spend and productivity, you see a positive relationship.”
Sir Patrick called for all Government Departments to consult more experts on science, technology and engineering, and for more graduates in these fields to be employed in the Public Service.
“In every single aspect of Government, science, technology and engineering have a part to play: What our healthcare looks like, every aspect of transport, how towns are designed, how green spaces are used to improve our lives and the role of technology in ensuring justice,” he said.
“I think it’s impossible to think of a single policy area that couldn’t be impacted by science in some way.”
In 2019, a science capability review ordered by Sir Patrick found that in some Departments, the amount of spending on scientific research had fallen over the past decade and was less than one per cent of the total budget.
“If you were a company and you said: ‘I’m going to spend 0.1 per cent on R&D’, you’ve effectively declared yourself to be a no-growth, no-innovation commodity,” Sir Patrick said.
“That can’t possibly be what Government is supposed to be,” he said.
“Innovation has got to be important.”
The review also found that only about one in 10 undergraduates recruited to the Public Service Fast Stream career pathway had a science degree.
The aim is to increase this to half the total by 2024.
London, 11 October 2022
