(rsc.org): The UK science minister has indicated that the scientific community's concerns over guidelines regarding scientific advice in government have been accommodated in developing the proposals. At a hearing of the parliamentary science and technology committee yesterday, science minister Lord Drayson and chief scientific adviser John Beddington were quizzed over the proposed principles governing the treatment of independent scientific advice in government. The first draft of the principles, issued in December, prompted concern within the scientific community, as it seemed to remove researchers' right to academic freedom, and included clauses calling for scientists and government to 'work together to reach a shared position' - a request widely seen as inappropriate - and demanding 'trust and respect' between advisers and government.
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