Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings (a) they and (b) other Ministers in their Department have had with the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (i) 1 December 2021 to 28 February 2022, (ii) 1 March to 31 May 2022 and (iii) 1 June to 31 August 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education had two meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Advisor between 1 December 2021 and 28 February 2022, one meeting between 1 March and 31 May 2022, and one meeting between 1 June and 31 August 2022. Baroness Barran also met with the Chief Scientific Advisor on 15 March 2022.
Following the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s regular attendance at the Scientific Advisor Group for Emergencies (SAGE), advice was shared with the Secretary of State, ministers, and senior officials consistently via email. More generally, the Department draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education had meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Advisor on the following dates:
Furthermore, following the department’s Chief Scientific Advisors regular attendance at the Scientific Advisor Group for Emergencies (SAGE), advice is shared with the Secretary of State, ministers and senior officials consistently via email.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings he had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020, (b) 1 June 2020 to 31 August 2020, (c) 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020 and (d) 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, had meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser on the following dates:
(a) 4 meetings between 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020
(b) 3 meetings between 1 June 2020 to 31 August 2020
(c) 0 meetings between 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020
(d) 6 meetings between 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021
It should be noted that key scientific evidence and advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and other sources is made available to the Secretary of State on a weekly basis.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings he had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser (a) from 1 September to 30 November 2019 and (b) from 1 December 2019 to 29 February 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department, attended 1 meeting with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education during the time period a) from 1 September to 30 November 2019. He also attended 1 meeting with the Secretary of State during the time period b) from 1 December 2019 to 29 February 2020.