Academy of Social Sciences says disciplines will be fundamental to economic recovery from Covid-19
The Academy of Social Sciences is calling for the creation of a new sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies to advise the government on the economic, social and community recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
The academy urged Whitehall and the parliaments of the devolved nations on 29 June to “use the knowledge and research expertise of the social science community to best effect”.
“In particular, we strongly encourage the timely formation of a new sub-committee of Sage that specifically focuses on economic, social and community recovery to which social science expertise, across a wide range of disciplines, is fundamental.”
The academy said it was putting the request in writing to the government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, who has previously said Sage was considering setting up a sub-committee for economics, but also that “Sage can’t become the integration of all knowledge”.
The academy added: “As the UK turns its attention to post-Covid-19 recovery and rebuilding, now is the time to embrace wider expertise on Sage that will be fundamental to the UK’s recovery, including economic, social, geographical and cultural expertise, and those with a deep understanding of social ‘big data’ and of the different contexts in each of the devolved nations.”