This report outlines the findings of a major Academy research project exploring the evidence infrastructures and processes in UK Government.
It welcomes the moves during and since the Covid pandemic to enhance the recognition and use of social science evidence. It identifies potential opportunities for continuing the positive trajectory of better harnessing a wider mix of evidence more fully across government. This is with the purpose of improving peoples’ lives and enhancing government policy making.
The contexts for the report include the fact that 80% of the identified departmental Areas of Research Interest (ARI’s) in the UK Government have strong links to the social sciences; the breadth of evidence that was drawn on in recent emergencies; and the government’s mission and goal-oriented approach.
More than 40 senior figures well-versed in Whitehall, evidence, analysis and policy, engaged with the project through interviews and discussions. They largely comprised senior UK Government officials, both past and present, across a range of roles and science backgrounds. Desk research and a mapping exercise complemented the interviews. The outcomes of this research informed the report’s findings and recommendations.
Social science evidence was the area felt by many project contributors to be currently underweighted. The recommendations highlight the need and opportunities for giving a wider and richer mix of evidence more weight in the evidence infrastructure and processes. This includes science advice and evidence, the analysis function, policy formulation and external expert advice. It ends by summarising how the recommendations would potentially stand to benefit the UK in achieving its goals.
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To cite this report: Enhancing the evidence ecosystem: Improving outcomes for government and citizens (2025) London. Academy of Social Sciences