MPP induction at the Scottish Government and Parliament

The Academy's MPP students visited the Government and Parliament on 13 October 2011 for an induction event with key members of staff.

Students were accompanied by the Academy's Deputy Director, Dr Eve Hepburn and University of Edinburgh Vice-Principal and Academy Director, Professor Charlie Jeffery.

Induction event 

The day for students began at the Scottish Government in Victoria Quay where they were welcomed by Dr Gill Clark and Tom Lamplugh from the Scottish Government. Students learned about the use of evidence in the Scottish Government Policy Cycle and about key issues facing the Scottish Government in 2012 and beyond.

This was followed by an interactive exercise in which the students considered where their interests and work fitted in relation with the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework. This included guidance and training in how to get public policy messages across to policy-makers in government.

In the afternoon the students traveled to Holyrood, home of the Scottish Parliament, where several senior staff presented information on the operation of the Parliament. Sessions were led by Chris March, Deputy Head of Strategy and Change Management; David McGill, Head of Chamber and Reporting; Terry Shevlin, Clerk to the Education and Culture Committee; Graeme Cook, Principal Researcher at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICE); and Kathleen Robson, Senior Researcher at SPICE.

Sessions considered the role of units such as the Strategy and Change Management office and the Chamber and Reporting office, the role of Committees within Parliament, and the role of SPICE and the linking of research and policy in the development of the Alcohol Bill.

The students finished off their day with a tour of the Scottish Parliament building.

This page was published on 16 November 2011

Dr Eve Hepburn

"The Academy of Government seeks to encourage students to think across boundaries, disciplines and the academia-practice divide, in the footsteps of the great philosophers who emerged from this University – David Hume, Adam Smith and William Ferguson to name a few. We are proud of our Scottish Enlightenment roots and our commitment to societal progress, improvement and justice"