Swapping lab coat for a week in Westminster

December 2017

Day -1: Sunday 3rd December 2017

It is 3th December and I am about to swap my normal workweek for a week in Parliament. I am taking part in the Royal Society pairing scheme, an annual event where 30 research scientists are paired with UK parliamentarians and civil servants. The aim of the scheme is to spend time together in Westminster and the researcher’s institution, with the aim to learn about each other’s work. Those taking part gain an insight into how research findings can help inform policy making, and come away with a better understanding of how they can get involved.

So, I am on the train to London to meet my ‘pair’, Mr Royston Smith, my local MP.

Before entering the world of ‘evidence-based-policy-making’, we are invited to a get together to meet fellow scientists. A very nice start of the event with a group of researchers at different stages of their career and staff from the Royal Society from the policy department. Highlight of the event is drawing names for the mock select committee later in the week,  and I am pleased to be one of the 15 committee members who will ask our expert witnesses for evidence. Exiting!

Day 1: Monday 4th December

The pairing scheme will kick off today. We start with a tour of the Palace of Westminster, followed by a series of talks on how parliament works and how science based evidence is used in policy making. We gathered at the visitors entrance at Cromwell Road for the 1 hour tour, starting in Westminster hall, to make our way to the ‘red’ House of Lords and the ‘green’ House of Commons, stopping along the way to hear about the history of the palace and traditions used by Kings, Queens and parliamentarians. Entering the house of commons is noticeable, a little but less gold and fresco’s, but the larger than life statues of past prime ministers cannot be missed. There is still a plint free, who will take this?

Next up are a series of talks on how parliament works, how to get in touch, the meaning of a green and white paper and Hansard notes; Have a look here https://hansard.parliament.uk

Top tips:

Contacting House of Commons.

1. Getting to know your local MP is your best way into parliament
2. A letter works better than an email
3. Find out what select committees your MP sit on. Look him/her up on website of parliament

Contacting House of Lords.
1. Get an MP and a Peer (Lord/Lady) on site if you want to provide evidence for a new policy
2. House of Lords enquiry service is a good start to get in touch with peers who have a specific interest in your area
3. Hansard is a record of everything ever been spoken about in committees and debates and names of peers to contact.. they don’t have staff so if you call the you speak directly to them.

can I give evidence to inform policy makers?

Start by looking up ‘bills’ on the parliament website to find out at what stage the bill relevant to your research area is, you can sign up for email notification and even propose giving evidence in a select committee. Select committees are a group of back bench MP’s who scrutinise work from the government, chaired by an MP. Calls for giving scientific evidence are published and only open for 2 weeks. Sign up if you don’t want to miss it. Bullet points and being succinct works best if you want to provide evidence. These meetings are open to the public and press. Good way to get your voice heard. Make sure to copy a member of staff when making an enquiry with an MP to secure a timely reply.

We also learned about the department of Business, Energy and Industrial strategy, the time of developing industrial policy and the role of Brexit. Have a look here for more information.

Need more advise?

Contact POST:  Parliamentary office for science and technology, 
POST provides balanced and accessible overviews of research from across the biological, physical and social sciences, and engineering and technology and place the findings of this research in a policy context for Parliamentary use. POST runs several fellowship schemes with Research Councils, learned societies and charities to enable researchers at all career stages to spend time working in Parliament. You can also use learned societies to contact parliamentarians (collected views will be stronger) who are also involved in forming select committee or contact Southampton Public Policy if you need more guidance.

We finished the day with a reception with talks from MP’s and the speaker John Bercow. For a snapshot have a look here.  B123902F-2628-4D66-8A5C-85C7B7D585DE

I am ready to start shadowing my M.P.!

Day 2: Tuesday 5th December 2017

I start shadowing my MP today. Royston’s is busy preparing for a Foreign affairs select committee, but his parliamentary assistant, Alex Evelyn, has organised a full day of meetings to attend.

My first meeting is a select committee asking evidence of the effect of Brexit and the pharmaceutical industry. A fascinating 2 hour session where experts are asked how Brexit will 1) influence import/export of medicines, 2) the regulatory process and the MHRA, 3) Job’s, people and skills and 4) the issues associated with planning in an uncertain time. It was good to learn how both risks and opportunities of Brexit on legislation, Research and Development and manufacturing. It is also clear that Brexit is a topic that will feature a lot this week.

Next off to the public gallery for a ‘urgent questions’ debate. This means a non-planned debate,  and thus highly topical – The Secretary of State, Hon Mr David Davies answered questions from MP’s in Government and the opposition on the Irish border, which were part of the negotiations of Theresa May with Jean Claude Juncker, which took place on Monday 3rd December in Brussels. Very energetic as most MP’s were present, including a bit of hackling and boo-ing. We will hear more about Brexit in the next few days…..

My last meeting was with Kit Malthouse, MP and member of the dementia all party parliamentary group. Really encouraging conversation on our research and the role of inflammation in Dementia. Excellent feedback. Suggested to bring evidence to an all party parliamentary committee and contact Edward Argar MP, or arrange a 15 minute slot while I’m in Westminster. My first day learning about policy is paying off.

Some thoughts after day 2

very different workday compared to University

odd work hours, so no time for lunch

many committees are chaired by women

have your evidence ready and keep it simple when you talk to an MP or parliamentary assistant; there is little time and less science background as we are used to

Day 3: Wednesday 5th December

I am meeting my local MP Royston Smith today to find out more about his work here in Westminster and to inform him about our research.   I came prepared with my ‘evidence’ in an info-graphic, which included the number of people with dementia in my constituency (you can look up yours here)  to convince my local MP that systemic inflammation is an important factor in Alzheimer’s disease. We next discussed how MP’s can support scientists in their work by asking parliamentary questions, organise events for lobbying and involve learned societies and charities. Involving your MP in your work and provide evidence may be the first step towards impact, so it is well worth thinking about this. Having been to a number of select committees and having an overview on how parliament works,  helped inmensly. I highly recommend taking part in this scheme for everyone with an interest in science and policy.

Prime minister questions time (#PMQ, for twitter users) takes place on Wednesday morning and I was very lucky that Royston organised a ticket for the public gallery for me, especially since he had to queue for me to obtain a ticket.  It was fascinating to see the black robe opening of the debate and see Theresa May  responding to and Jeremy Corbyn’s questions- I am sure you will not be surprised that Brexit features heavily! It was a noisy debate so the speaker intervened where needed- order,  order!

The afternoon was reserved for our own Mock select committee. We were tasked to obtain advise from three witnesses on the theme: Do we need a Office for Scientific Responsibility. The witnesses/experts included the Chair of the houses of Lord of Science and Technology, the Deputy Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), Liberal Democrat Adviser on Housing and Environment, who not only answered our questions but also provided an insight into the process of evidence-based policy making. It was clear that science based evidence plays an important role in select committees and a number of routes are taken to obtain the evidence, this includes chief scientific advisors and learned societies; other factors taken into account are public opinion, risks and budget.You can watch any select committee which are all broadcasted on TV – click here.

The day finished with an invitation to the parliamentary Christmas reception, this year hosted by the Royal Society of Biology. We had the opportunity to talk to MP’s and Peers and representatives of learned Societies. We were also treated to an award ceremony to honour 4 outstanding members of parliament for their contribution to science and policy. As a three way whip vote was planned for the evening, we were all waiting for the bell to go off – a sign that the voting begins and that MPs have 8 minutes to reach the chamber!

All in all a very pleasant evening and found out about fellow scientist Dr Katrina Morgan from the optoelectronics department at University of Southampton.  We discussed organising our won select committee to raise more awareness of science and policy and highlight opportunities to find out how to get involved. Watch this space!

Day 4: Thursday 7th December

Our shadowing is over, an our last day of the pairing scheme took place at the office for business, energy and industry ( BEIS) with a series of talks and a panel meeting by civil servants from the Office of Science sharing their experience. The day was concluded with a talk from Chris Whitty, chief scientific advisor,  and a feedback session. All participants had a fantastic week, with our own experience and impressions. Have a look at #SciWestminster17 to get some idea. More communication and outreach from both sides will help bringing us closer together. Postdocs can get involved with policy too; engage with those that make decision in relevant areas and offer your evidence based advise – impact might follow!  Have a look here to find out more.

It was a great week in Westminster, met a number of interesting scientist and parliamentarians all thanks to The Royal society.