The means by which science is addressed across Parliament and Government is complex, involving a range of individual expertise, structures and bodies. This introduction seeks to provide an overview and a framework for the more detailed information that follows.

In order to understand how science inter-relates with Parliament, Government and the Civil Service it is first important to understand the role and functions of each. Parliament does not govern. The nature of Parliament's powers lie in its "legislative supremacy". The UK does not have a basic charter or constitution; Parliament has the sole constitutional right of establishing and altering the laws, other than the willingness of the people to obey, or their power to resist. It is not possible in the UK to challenge an Act of the UK Parliament in the courts on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. One of the consequences of Parliament's legislative supremacy is that one Parliament cannot bind its successor Parliaments, which of course have equal claim to legislative supremacy.

Government conducts the business of the state, often acting within the powers and resources that have been granted by Parliament, and claiming its authority to govern by virtue of its ability to command a majority of the House of Commons. Hence, Parliament may try to influence the actions of government but it cannot micro-manage the affairs of the state. Parliament influences the actions of Government through a process of scrutiny, provision of information and advice. This is achieved for science in Parliament through the activities of the Select Committees; the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee (P&SC) and a number of other associated parliamentary bodies and the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST).

The Civil Service answers to government and not to Parliament. There is little Parliamentary oversight of appointments to public office or of the control of the processes and procedures - the machinery of government. The Government, by royal proclamation summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament.

Government is managed by Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister and supported by the civil service, which is independent of the party of government. There are three levels of Ministerial rank. A Secretary of State is the top-ranking Minister in a Department and is always a member of cabinet. A Minister of State is the second rank of minister and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the most junior ministerial position.

Since the Government does not have a science ministry, the highest ranking minister with direct responsibility for science is the Minister of State for Science & Innovation in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Within other government departments, responsibility for science may fall to Ministers of State or the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, depending on the extent of the use of science by the different departments.

The senior officials responsible for science at the departmental level are the Chief Scientific Advisers (CSA). The Government Chief Scientific Adviser has direct access to, and advises the Prime Minister on science, but has no direct line management responsibility for Department CSAs.

The Prime Minister is advised on science, engineering and technology by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (to whom he has direct access) and the Council for Science & Technology (CST). The CST is the Prime Minister's top-level advisory body on medium to long-term strategic issues concerning government policies and a framework for ensuring that science and innovation meets the needs of the Nation.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has overall responsibility for Government science policy and support for science and innovation in the cross-departmental role as Cabinet Minister for Science and Innovation. The Secretary of State is supported in this role by the BIS Minister for Science and Innovation and the Government Office for Science.

The Ministerial Science Group is chaired by the Minister of Science and Innovation, and its members comprise of Ministers from those Departments having a significant interest in science and innovation, including the devolved administrations. The Ministerial Science Group is an informal committee promoting a co-ordinated and coherent approach to science policy across government.

The Government Chief Scientific Adviser chairs the main official-level, cross-departmental forum for discussion of science, engineering and innovation the Chief Scientific Advisers Committee (CSAC). There are now Chief Scientific Advisers in every major science and engineering using department, all of whom attend CSAC.

The Department with overall responsibility for science and innovation within Government is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). An Office of Science and Technology (OST) was first established in 1992 as part of the Office of Public Service and Science under the auspices of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. After re-organisation of government departments in 1995 the OST moved to the DTI and later was renamed the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI). In 2007 the OSI moved to form a significant part of the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills where it was renamed the Government Office for Science (GO-Science). In 2009 BIS was created and the focus for science, engineering and innovation were once again bound together with industry but this time including the skills element of the University sector.

Departments having a significant interest in science and innovation include Defence, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Home Office, Transport, International Development, Health and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Energy and Climate Change. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury also have significant interests - the former through its social science research programme in support of policy, and the latter through the financing of science and innovation by Government. The increasing importance and relevance of science in government policy has been reflected in the appointment of Chief Scientific Advisers in each of the major Departments, although as yet with one omission, in HM Treasury.