New award launched to celebrate ‘Best Use of Evidence by a Politician’

Politicians who have served in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, the House of Commons or House of Lords can be nominated

The Alliance for Useful Evidence has partnered with the Political Studies Association (PSA) to highlight a new category in this year’s PSA Annual Awards. The ‘Politician – Best Use of Evidence’ award will recognise an individual politician, working in any UK legislature since December 2015, who has made and defended a policy decision on the basis of what the body of evidence suggests is the most appropriate course of action. A UK-wide network, the Alliance promotes the use of high quality evidence to inform decisions on strategy, policy and practice.

The PSA Annual Awards recognise the achievements of academics, politicians, political campaigners, journalists and other contributors to the conduct and study of politics. The awards are now open for entries and the deadline for nominations is Monday 11 July 2016.

Jonathan Breckon, Head of the Alliance for Useful Evidence, said: “Although governments and policymakers have access to more evidence than ever before, this does not always feed into policy. We want to highlight where politicians have made a difference by basing policy-making on authoritative evidence.

“We are therefore pleased to team up with the Political Studies Association in inviting members of the public to nominate those politicians who have clearly shown a commitment to the use of evidence in their work this year.”

Nominations are also invited for the other categories listed here. Entries can be made in as many or as few categories as they wish, and should include a sentence or two to explain the choice. Completed forms should be sent to [email protected].

The Awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 29th November at Church House in Westminster, London.

Ends

The Alliance for Useful Evidence is a UK-wide network that promotes the use of high quality evidence to inform decisions on strategy, policy and practice. We do this through advocacy, publishing research, sharing ideas and advice, and holding events and training. Further information is available on this link http://www.alliance4usefulevidence.org/ // @A4UEvidence

For more information, contact: Kasia Murphy, Press Officer at Nesta, the innovation foundation (and partner in the Alliance for Useful Evidence): [email protected] / 020 7438 2610

Political Studies Association exists to develop and promote the study of politics. Founded in 1950, it has an international membership including academics in political science and current affairs, theorists and practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and students in higher education.

Notes to the Editor

For more information on the PSA awards scheme visit: https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa-annual-awards

Previous winners of the ‘Politician - Best Use of Evidence’ award include:

Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP (2014). Norman Lamb was chosen by the judges for this award for his outstanding work on mental health and social care. In particular, the judges commended Lamb for his launch of Positive and Safe, a two-year programme to end the deliberate use of face-down restraint in all health and care settings. The judges also mentioned his work with the Royal College of Nursing, Skills for Health and Skills for Care to develop new guidance for professionals as well as workforce training guidelines.

Rt Hon Andrew Tyrie MP (2013). The judges said Tyrie’s effective and penetrating scrutiny of Government and other bodies on a variety of subjects, including appointments to the Financial Policy Committee, quantitative easing, fixing LIBOR, HMRC and tax compliance, PFI and the Budget proposals made him the clear choice as the winner of this award. “As Chair of the Treasury Select Committee Tyrie has tirelessly questioned the UK’s banks, holding them to account during the financial crisis. As Chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards he has worked to reform the culture and standards of the banking sector, challenging orthodoxy in the financial sector.”