Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Government Office for Science and the Cabinet Office (SAGE
00a)
RESPONSE TO 11 NOVEMBER HOUSE OF COMMONS
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
ON THE INQUIRY ON "SCIENTIFIC ADVICE AND EVIDENCE IN EMERGENCIES".
1. The Committee requests that the Government
provide it with a full list of SAGE sub-groups and sub-group members
set up during the volcanic ash emergency in April 2010 (as mentioned
on page 14 of the Government's original written submission).
The list of SAGE sub-groups and its members
is attached at Annex A.
2. Following yesterday's evidence session
on the volcanic ash emergency, it emerged from Professor Brian
Collins' oral evidence that some SAGE members were required to
sign non-disclosure agreements. The Committee requests an example
of the non-disclosure agreement that SAGE members signed with
a note on who was required to sign it and why.
The "Code of Conduct" document signed
by SAGE members is attached at Annex B. Also attached at Annex
C is a document entitled "Guidance on dealing with the media"
which was also circulated to SAGE members.
All non-government members of SAGE were expected
to sign the code of conduct in order to ensure conflicts of interest
were declared, and clarifying the confidentiality of the group
because of its role in providing advice in formulation of government
policy.
3. Minutes of SAGE meetings have not been
published and the Committee is seeking insight into the advice
that SAGE gave to Government. Therefore it requests that the Government
provide a list of documents prepared by SAGE for the Civil Contingencies
Committee (CCC), including (i) dates of when they were circulated
to and discussed by the CCC and (ii) a short summary of what types
of scientific advice each document included.
Sir John Beddington, acting as Chair of SAGE,
attended all CCC meetings on volcanic ash. Sir John provided oral
updates from SAGE at each of these meetings, providing an overview
of advice on issues such as volcanic activity, meteorology and
planning assumptions/scenarios, and answering any specific questions
from Ministers. In addition to these oral updates CCC were provided
with two papers from SAGE on volcanic ash in April on the following
subjects;
— Planning Assumptions paper
— Paper outlined advice on best case, reasonable
worst case, and most probable scenarios taking into consideration
what was known about Eyjafjallajökull volcanic activity (and
other associated volcanoes) and meteorology at that time.
— Volcanic Ash; Indicative scenarios paper
— Paper outlined the various types of scenarios
possible taking into account potential geological and meteorological
scenarios.
4. Lastly, the Committee would be grateful
if the Government could provide a timetable concerning the publication
of SAGE minutes.
In light of lessons learned from the use of
scientific advice and evidence, and the establishment of SAGE
in the swine flu and volcanic ash responses, Government is currently
developing guidance for coordinating scientific and technical
advice to support UK cross-government decision making during emergencies.
The publication of the volcanic ash SAGE minutes is being considered
in this light, and the intention is to publish the SAGE minutes,
subject to the application of FOI principles, by the end of the
calendar year.
Annex A
SAGE SUB-GROUPS AND MEMBERS
METEROLOGY SUBGROUP
| Chair: | Professor
| Slingo | Julia | CSA, Met Office
|
| Members: | Dr | Thompson
| David | Met Office |
| Professor | Mobbs
| Stephen | NERC NCAS, Leeds
|
| Professor | Coe
| Hugh | University of Manchester
|
| Professor | Simmons
| Adrian | European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
|
GEOLOGY SUBGROUP
| Chair: | Dr | Loughlin
| Sue | British Geological Survey
|
| Members: | Dr | Kerridge
| David | British Geological Survey
|
| Professor | Sparks
| Steve | University of Bristol
|
| Dr | Aspinall
| Willy | University of Bristol
|
| Professor | Halliday
| Alex | University of Oxford
|
| Dr | Gilbert
| Jennie | University of Lancaster
|
| Professor | Wilson
| Marge | University of Leeds
|
| Professor | McGuire
| Bill | University College London
|
AVIATION SUBGROUP
| Chair: | Professor | Collins
| Brian | DfT |
| Members: | Dr | Aspinall
| Willy | Bristol University
|
| Mr | Elgy
| Ray | CAA |
| Mr | Evans
| Phil | Met Office |
| Dr | Haselbach
| Frank | Rolls Royce |
| Captain | Jones
| Bob | CAA |
| Mr | Lambourne
| David | Rolls Royce |
| Mr | McColl
| John | CAA |
| Mr | Nicholls
| Duncan | DfT |
| Professor | Pilidis
| Pericles | Cranfield University
|
| Professor | Savill
| Mark | Cranfield University
|
| Dr | Thomson
| David | Met Office |
| Dr | Walker
| Alan | Royal Academy of Engineering
|
| Dr | Watson
| Matt | Bristol University |
VOLCANIC HAZARDS ASSESSMENT SUBGROUP
| Chair: | Professor | Aspinall
| Willy | University of Bristol (BRISK)
|
| Members: | Dr | Jenkins
| Susanna | Cambridge Architectural Research
|
| Dr | Loughlin
| Sue | British Geological Survey
|
| Professor | Sparks
| Steve | University of Bristol (BRISK)
|
| Professor | Spiegelhalter
| David | University of Cambridge
|
| Dr | Thordarson
| Thor | University of Edinburgh
|
| Dr | Larsen
| Gudrun | University of Iceland
|
Annex B
SAGE CODE OF CONDUCT
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY
GROUP FOR
EMERGENCIES (SAGE) ICELANDIC
VOLCANIC ERUPTION
CODE OF CONDUCT
1. SAGE members, and respective sub-group members or invited
experts, should conduct themselves with integrity and honesty.
They should not deceive or knowingly mislead Parliament or the
public. They should not misuse their official position or information
acquired in the course of their official duties to further their
private interests or the private interests of others. They should
not receive benefits of any kind which others might reasonably
see as compromising their personal judgement or integrity. They
should not, without authority, disclose official information which
has been communicated in confidence in government or received
in confidence from others. Discussions and advice provided by
SAGE will remain confidential whilst SAGE is operational. However,
information may be released later under the government's principles
of freedom of information.
2. Members or invited experts are expected to adhere to the
core public service values of integrity, honesty, objectivity
and impartiality. This means:
— "integrity" is putting the obligations of
public service above your own personal interests;
— "honesty" is being truthful and open;
— "objectivity" is basing your advice and
decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence; and
— "Impartiality" is acting solely according
to the merits of the case and serving equally well Governments
of different political persuasions.
3. In practice this means:
— set out the facts and relevant issues truthfully,
and correct any errors as soon as possible; and
— use resources only for the authorised public purposes
for which they are provided.
— provide information and advice, including advice to
Ministers, on the basis of the evidence, and accurately present
the options and facts;
— take decisions on the merits of the case;
— take due account of expert and professional advice.
— inform the Chair(s) of all contacts with the media.
4. SAGE and respective sub-groups members or invited experts
should inform the SAGE Secretariat in writing of any potential
conflicts of interest such as any personal interests relating
to these duties, and should inform the Secretariat if any others
arise during their work on SAGE. The SAGE secretariat can give
advice on what could constitute a potential conflict of interest.
I have read and understood the above code of conduct.
I have declared my conflicts of interest below/I am currently
unaware of any conflicts of interest (please delete as applicable).
SIGNED ................................................
SURNAME (BLOCK LETTERS) ........................................
FORENAME(S) (BLOCK LETTERS) .................................
DATE ................................................
Annex C
SAGE GUIDANCE ON DEALING WITH THE MEDIA
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY
GROUP FOR
EMERGENCIES (SAGE)
GUIDANCE ON
DEALING WITH
THE MEDIA
We have received a few enquiries from SAGE members regarding
their dealings with the media.
RESPONSIBILITIES
I would draw your attention to the section in the Code of
Conduct which states that members "should not, without authority,
disclose official information which has been communicated in confidence
in government or received in confidence from others. Discussions
and advice provided by SAGE will remain confidential whilst SAGE
is operational."
However, you are of course entitled to talk to the media
as an expert in your own right. The only restrictions on this
are:
— You must not claim to represent SAGE in any way, or
allow that impression to be created.
— You must not divulge details of discussions that happened
in SAGE, or the outcomes of those discussions.
— You must not pass on any information which you would
not have had, had you not been a member of SAGE.
Talking about your own work, or the situation more generally,
is not restricted by your membership of SAGE.
MAKING STATEMENTS
TO THE
MEDIA
You are not required to have any statements of the media
"checked" by us prior to publication. However, if you
are unsure whether what you have said violates the Code of Conduct,
we will be very happy to check it for you if you would like.
We would also appreciate if you could flag up any statements,
interviews etc. to us.
MEMBERSHIP OF
SAGE
While you are not permitted to discuss SAGE meetings, you
are entitled to confirm that you are a member, and publish it
on departmental websites etc. as you wish.
However, please be aware that if you publicise the fact that
you are a member of SAGE, you may invite increased questioning
from the media.
MEDIA TRAINING
We are sure most of you have plenty of experience with handling
the media. However, if any of you feel you may need some training
on this issue, it may be something we can discuss in the future.
Government Office for Science and the Cabinet Office
16 November 2010
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