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3/25/2011Government’s attitude to scientific advice is that it issomething to reach for only after an emergency, findsCommons reportblogs.lse.ac.uk /impactofsocialsciences/2011/03/25/governments-attitude-to-scientific-advice-is-that-it-is-something-to-reach-for-only-after-an-emergency-finds-commons-report/The Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies  report, published this month by the House of CommonsScience and Technology Committee, has concluded that the government waits too long to ask for scientific advice inemergencies.The report examined how scientific advice and evidence is used innational emergencies, using four case studies to focus the inquiry: the2009-10 H1N1 influenza (swine flu) pandemic, the volcanic ash disruptionin April 2010, space weather events such as solar flares, and cyberattacks. Over 40 written submissions from academics were obtained, aswell as the views of 32 witnesses, many of whom were also academics,from oral evidence sessions.The report concluded that scientific advice and evidence has a key role toplay in each stage of an emergency, that is preparation beforehand, thegovernment’s response, and the recovery process, although at presentthe government tends to consider evidence once an emergency happens. The volcanic ash emergency wasidentified as “a clear example of how a lack of risk assessment and preparation can hamper the emergencyresponse”, concluding that “scientific advice and an evidence-based approach must be better integrated into riskassessment and policy processes early on”.The report also recommended that Scientific Advisory Groups in Emergencies (SAGEs) “should not be given a carteblanche to operate however they please just because an emergency is occuring”, and called for a more organisedand transparent system including a published code of conduct.Other important conclusions include the movement of the Government Office for Science into the Cabinet Office, theswift reconciliation between the earth sciences community and the government, a renewed focus on social andbehavioural sciences, and that the security clearance process does not deter academics from providing scientificadvice to government.Copyright © The Author (or The Authors) - Unless otherwise stated, this work is licensed under a CreativeCommons Attribution Unported 3.0 License.1/1

Government’s attitude to scientific advice is that it is something to reach for only after an emergency, finds Commons report

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