UK not using scientists effectively in government say MPs’

BBC News : The government is keeping scientists at “arm’s length” and treating science as “a peripheral policy concern,” a group of MPs has said.The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee says knowledge from experts is not being properly used to make informed policy decisions.Instead of being sidelined, scientists should be able to communicate directly with the prime minister, it argues.Former chief scientist Sir David King said reform was “critical”.A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) rejected the accusation, arguing that science was fundamentally central to government operations.