The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is an advisory non-departmental public body

Non-departmental public body

In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 government. Its role is to give advice on issues that cut across government departments to the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

, the First Minister of Scotland

First Minister of Scotland

The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...

 and the First Minister for Wales

First Minister for Wales

The First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the...

. It was established in 1993 and relaunched in 2003. It is based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The Council has two chairs. Professor Janet Finch

Janet Finch

Dame Janet Valerie Finch DBE, DL, AcSS is a British sociologist and academic administrator. She was Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Social Relations at Keele University, and has held a number of other public appointments in the UK...

 chairs meetings where advice is being developed.
Professor John Beddington

John Beddington

Sir John Rex Beddington, CMG, FRS is the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London.-Early life:...

, the Chief Scientific Adviser

Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government

The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science....

 and head of the Government Office for Science

Government Office for Science

The Government Office for Science is part of the British government. This organisation exists to ensure that Government policy and decision-making is underpinned by robust scientific evidence and long-term thinking...

, chairs meetings reporting its advice to government.

The advisory functions of the CST had previously been performed by the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development (ACARD), from 1976 to 1987, and the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST) from 1987 to 1993.