Strategies can overcome irrational UK policy-making

Significance

The report, entitled 'Missing Evidence', reveals that despite spending 2.5 billion pounds (3.6 billion dollars) on policy research each year, the UK government maintains no comprehensive account of how many studies have been commissioned or if and when they have been published. It says this is true for the vast majority of government departments, raising questions about the role of evidence in policy-making.

Impacts

• External expertise is becoming increasingly important because of the growing complexity of policy-making.
• The lack of transparency could facilitate 'burying' politically inconvenient results.
• Increasing public pressure could eventually lead to clearer and more transparent procedures.