Professor David Cope Director Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) United Kingdom Parliament Westminster, England

First – a few words about myself and my Office. My Office was set up just over 20 years ago, by a decision made by both Houses of the UK Parliament. It assists Parliament as a whole, and its committees, in examining issues that are, and especially, are likely in the future, to be of concern to Parliament. As you might expect, matters related to risk assessment, across a wide range of subject areas, are a major focus of our work.

Let me give you just one example of our work. The Sellafield nuclear complex, Cumbria, England Let me give you just one example of our work. This is the largest and most complex study we have done in our 20 years. The House of Commons Defence Committee asked us to investigate the risks of attacks on UK civil nuclear facilities, such as power stations and processing facilities. Our report has become the standard work on this subject. You can find it at: www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/POSTpn222.pdf

The European Parliamentary Technology Assessment network (EPTA) Members European Parliament Catalonia, Spain Denmark (2010 President) Finland Flanders, Belgium France Germany Greece Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Associates Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Austria Belgium Czech Republic US Congress’ Government Accountability Office Intergovernmental National Regional Wider World It is one of 19 similar offices or functions, serving Parliaments across Europe, including the European Parliament itself. These offices collaborate closely through a formal network – EPTA. Recently, EPTA has been joined by the Science and Engineering departments of the US Congress’ government Accountability Office. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no similar function at the Japanese Diet. One of the things I have been doing while in Tokyo is having discussions about whether such a function could be created.

The Role of Parliaments To scrutinise the financial and general activities of the government To debate and agree new laws and to review existing laws To be the premier institution considering issues of current concern to the people To be a ‘look-out’ for future issues??? (some Parliaments do this more than others)

POST collaboration with African Parliaments 2007-11 Staff and resource capacity building Regional and wider networking

Websites www.parliament.uk/post.cfm www.eptanetwork.org