Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, (POST) is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's in-house source of independent, balanced and accessible analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology. POST (rather distinctively) serves BOTH Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and equally the House of Lords) as a joint establishment, through output that is apolitical and of widely acclaimed value to Parliamentarians of all parties. Thorough quality-control, which POST has pioneered, ensures that MPs and Peers can have confidence in the information should they wish to cite it in debate. These principles are reflected in the structure of POST’s Board with members from the Commons and Lords together with distinguished scientists and engineers from the wider world.

The UK Parliament makes POST a permanent institution, in 2001, after Dr Ian Gibson MP, POST's Chairman, and Professor David Cope, Director, presented evidence to the then House of Commons Administration Committee to support the decision, endorsed later by the House of Lords.

Since 1939, a group of MPs and peers interested in science and technology, through the first parliamentary "All Party Group", the UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&S), had encouraged UK Parliamentarians to explore the implications of scientific developments for society and public policy. As the UK economy became more dependent on technological progress, and the negative effects of technology (especially on the environment) became more apparent, it was felt that UK Parliament needed its own resources on such issues. Parliamentarians not only required access to knowledge and insights into the implications of technology for their constituents and society, but also needed to exercise their scrutiny functions over legislation and administration. This thinking was also influenced by the fact that specialised parliamentary science and technology organisations already existed overseas.

P&S members (Sir Ian Lloyd MP, Sir Trevor Skeet MP, Sir Gerry Vaughan MP, Lords Kennet, Gregson and Flowers among others) visited already established organisations in the US, Germany and France, and this reinforced their view that modern Parliaments needed their own ‘intelligence’ on science and technology-related issues. Initially they asked the then Thatcher government to fund such services at Westminster but were asked first to demonstrate a real need. This led to the P&S creating a charitable foundation to raise funds from P&S members.

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