Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
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Healthy outcome for Food Standards Science Review
The Food Standards Agency has been commended for the way it commissions, manages and uses science in an independent review published today.
The Government Office for Science Review highlights examples of good practice and praises the FSA for operating in an extremely open and transparent fashion. The agency has pioneered holding committees and board meetings in public, with the agendas and papers published on the web beforehand and minutes of meetings also made available online.
The FSA is credited with working in an evidence-driven manner in the assessment of risk, the use of scientific evidence and the commissioning of new scientific research. The review also commends its achievements, particularly at a time of restructuring, relating to risks from both modern ingredients and traditional foods. The FSA has come to decisions which the great majority of the scientific community has supported and have been shown to be correct.
However, the report also found that whilst science lies at the core of the FSA's business, without in-house facilities, the Agency relies on others to undertake the science it needs. There is therefore a high risk that in a climate of resource constraints, the funding of science within the FSA may be reduced and that the pressure may be met by reducing the amount of externally funded work. It is therefore important that even in a period of declining resources, the amount of funds devoted to high quality scientific research related to the work of the agency, should not fall, and neither should standards for funding be lowered.
The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of
GO-Science, Professor John Beddington, said:
"This review
indicates that the FSA is using science and scientific advice in
an extremely impressive way. In many respects the agency is ahead
of the field, particularly in its use of openness and transparency
in the way scientific advice is developed and presented.
"That is not to say that everything is perfect, there is
still scope for
improvement, but it is an extremely credible performance."
Whilst the Review judged the FSA's use of science to be good
it nevertheless makes a number of recommendations for areas of
improvement which would enhance the agency's use and
management of science including:
* the need for more clarity
as to where and how policy decisions are made, prioritised and
implemented;
* the need for more consistent and satisfactory
use of external expertise;
* the need to look at longer term
issues in a more strategic way;
* the need for more
collaborative working with others across Government and other
external stakeholders;
* and greater career opportunities for staff.
The Government Office for Science carries out Science Reviews to
assure the quality, management and use of science by individual
Government Departments. They inform and support departments by
providing an independent assessment of the quality of the evidence
base. They also support the Government 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.
Notes for Editors
1. The focus of
the GO-Science Review was on the Department's use and
management of science in pursuing its role as a UK-wide entity.
Technically, the FSA is different from other mainstream Government
departments in that it is a non-Ministerial department with
autonomy and independence not afforded to the others. However, the
importance of its work (both nationally and internationally) and
the level to which its work is supported by scientific and
technical advice merits its inclusion in the programme of
departmental Science Reviews.
2. This review is the seventh GO-Science Review and was carried out between February 2008 and April 2009. 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 2007; the review of Communities and Local Government was published in March 2007; the review of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice was published in December 2007; and the review of the Department of Health was published in October 2008.
3. A copy of the full report is available at: http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/pubs/G/go_science_review_fsa
4. The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food.
For media enquiries, contact GO-Science press office on 0203 300 8105.
ENDS
