12 December 2008
By Paul Dicken There should be more knowledge sharing between academics and policy-makers, a government report has said. The findings of a series of seminars on how evidence informs public policy were published on December 4. They were carried out by the National School of Government, a non-ministerial department, in partnership with the Public Management and Policy Association. Rod Clark, principal and chief executive of the National School, said: ‘The report responds to the need to improve analytical capacity and the use of evidence in policy-making as identified in the capability reviews. ‘These skills are core elements in the civil service’s Professional Skills for Government Framework and essential to the future of our public services.’ The report, Evidence based policy-making, recommends: undertaking ‘structure work’ to understand the conditions for successful dialogue between academics and practitioners; a greater recognition of the political nature of decision-making in public services; and continued investment in training for policy makers to equip them with skills to assess evidence effectively. PMPA development director Janet Grauberg said the work had drawn on input from academics and serving civil servants. She added that the recommendations challenged policy-makers to provide good public services.
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