ESRI Policy Seminar: "The Role of Economists in Government and their Contribution to Evidence-based Policymaking: The Scottish Experience"
Venue: The ESRI, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dubli
Speaker: Dr Gary Gillespie, Chief Economic Advisor to the Scottish Government.Dr Gillespie gave this seminar on the functioning of the Government Economic Service (GES) in Scotland on FRIDAY 26 APRIL, 3pm.
The context for this seminar is the hiring of 30 economists by the Irish civil service in 2012 as part of a plan to establish theIrish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. This is seen as a response to the recognised need for more economic expertise in government departments.
Dr Gillespie will outline the structure of the civil service in Scotland and the role of the GES. This will cover the recent restructuring of the service and the current and planned scale and nature of the GES in Scotland (i.e., numbers, grades, salaries, career structure etc.).
He will also describe the important role played by economists in the Scottish Government and the professional development and training support provided to staff. He will also discuss the way in which members of the GES in Scotland engage with professional colleagues in the wider UK Government and with economists in the academic, business and policy communities in Scotland.