ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the ethos and structure of the civil service shape how evidence is used. It examines how the structure of the civil service is disposed to a tense relationship with providers of research evidence. The model of the UK or Whitehall civil service is also predominantly the model of most British ex-colonies. The UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has co-financed so-called Knowledge Transfer Fellowships to place academics in the private, public and third sectors sector to provide evidence to inform particular policy questions and problems. The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) 'washed their hands' of responsibility for policy formation, and instead argued they simply implemented Westminster and European policies. The Rural Policy Division relied heavily on its two key stakeholder groups, the Rural Community Network (RCN) and the Rural Development Council (RDC), for guidance in implementing the EU funded Rural Development Programmes.
