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Aims

The aim of the Science Review Programme, conducted by the Government Office for Science (formerly the Office of Science and Innovation), is to maintain and improve the quality and use of science across government departments. The programme is one of the mechanisms which allows the Government Chief Scientific Advisor to carry out his role of "advising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on the overall health of science and scientific research funded by government departments".

The Programme involves:

• Reviewing existing departmental systems for assuring the quality, management and use of science; the review seeks to identify aspects which a department does well and which other departments could learn from, as well areas in which the department could improve on.
• A close examination of the extent to which science and scientific advice consistently and effectively feeds into a department’s strategy and policymaking. This will not only include the department’s internal and externally-commissioned science but also that accessed from the UK and international science bases.
• Identifying and disseminating examples of good practice from within the UK and abroad (so as to raise the standards of science generally across government departments)