Lords hear calls for less secretive national risk assessment

Next iteration of National Security Risk Assessment could be more open to academics to contribute

Two former chief scientific advisers are among figures who have called for less secrecy on planning for and responding to emergencies such as pandemics and floods, in response to a recently launched House of Lords inquiry into risk assessment.

In the most recent session of the inquiry into risk assessment and risk planning, on 9 December, former chief scientific adviser Mark Walport said that “there was far too little transparency at the beginning” of the Covid-19 pandemic from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, a situation he described as a “learning exercise”.