The academic community must be ready to respond to opportunities to engage with the issues that are preoccupying policy makers

The Institute for Government has just published three new reports on the state of policy making in the UK government. They show concerns about the lack of knowledge in Whitehall, the lack of connection to new ideas and about the way in which evaluations are used. These all represent a big opportunity for academics who want to increase their impact, argues Jill Rutter, but they will need to change to meet policy makers’ needs if they are to fill those gaps