These sections consider whether a new standard of transparency has been set for SAGE but also highlights potential issues of having more than one scientific advisory group (albeit one not official) and the limitations of their outreach.
This blog post uses media coverage to better understand these notions of transparency, the differences between SAGE and Independent SAGE and how SAGE has changed in the context of transparency over the duration of the pandemic. Topics include (but are not limited to) school openings, test and trace options and the impact of Covid-19 on Black and Minority Ethnic populations. Several reports and open letters are also available on Independent SAGE’s website. There are now over 10 meetings that the public can view on Independent SAGE’s YouTube channel. The latest change being live weekly meetings with their own scientific experts on their social media channels as a response to the end of the Government’s daily briefings, with the first of these being held on 26 June 2020. Independent SAGE’s quest for transparency has not stopped since their inception. Their website is an obvious ‘dig’ at the Ministers’ rhetoric as it uses the tagline ‘Independent SAGE. Independent SAGE’s first meeting was on the 4 May 2020 and live-streamed on YouTube. He warned the secrecy of the response could cause a loss of public trust in the science. Although decisions are made by the Government’s Ministers, not SAGE, the phrase 'we are following the science’ was regularly used to justify decisions during these briefings.įormer Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King, established a separate group of experts called Independent SAGE in reaction to and part of this growing push for transparency. The job of SAGE is to pool together scientific experts and provide scientific advice to the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR). During these a Minister regularly stood in the middle of two senior members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). The last of the BBC daily briefings was held on 24 June 2020. Decisions happening behind closed doors due to a lack of transparency of the scientific evidence has been a notable concern about the UK’s response to Covid-19.