This report assesses how government departments procure research and how well that research is being used to improve service delivery and develop policies. It is based upon an assessment of research activities in three government departments, as well as discussions with other department and stakeholders. Examples of best practice are presented : a fellowship programme jointly funded between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Economic and Social Research Council which explicitly aims to build research capacity in both technical excellence and strategic thinking; id21,an internet dissemination service (www.id21.org) established and funded by the Department for International Development to communicate research findings to policymakers and practitioners.

Conclusions
The process of getting research into practice is widely acknowledged to be a difficult process. Policymakers often describe research reports as being inaccessible and the passive dissemination of research findings is not sufficient to ensure that research findings are used to improve service delivery and to inform policy. The barriers to the effective use of science in policy making included the motivation of researchers to contribute to policy, their communication of research in a form relevant to policy, and the understanding of policy makers of the uncertainties inherent in the research and how to reflect them in formulating policy. On evaluation, although government departments carry out evaluations of ongoing and completed research, they have no systematic mechanisms for measuring the overall impact of their research effort, or for identifying and sharing best practice through interdepartmental benchmarking.

The report produced three main recommendations for Departments, with the support of The Office of Science and Technology. Firstly Departments need to be clear about their strategic research aims and establish coherent systems for procuring research - including its commissioning, quality assurance and use. Secondly Departments need to be proactive and innovative in the way they disseminate and use research findings. Finally Departments need to identify and share best practice and thus improve the effectiveness of commissioning, managing and using research.

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