‘Secretive’ Covid body is accused of hypocrisy
‘Opaque’ government unit calls for transparency while refusing to disclose its rationale or personnel
THE director of a “secretive” government body guiding local lockdowns without publishing its reasoning is at the centre of a hypocrisy row after telling MPs that “transparency is so important”.
Dr Thomas Waite, director of health protection at the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), told the science and technology committee last month that “the more information out there the better”.
This is despite the JBC, which is leading the Covid-19 response and recommending actions to contain local outbreaks, having never revealed its personnel or their deliberations.
This newspaper can also disclose that a now-expired job advertisement for a role within the JBC, leading on the technical and analytical aspects of epidemiological outbreak investigations, listed experience in infectious disease as “desirable but not essential”.
The body, which is led by a senior spy, was behind last week’s decision to place London, York and other areas into tougher Tier 2 lockdowns, a move criticised by senior Tory MPs. Sir Iain Duncan Smith described the JBC as “very, very opaque”.
He said: “It’s all very well to say they all act in a secretive way … but we need to know who they are, what their background is, who appointed them. This body can kill the UK economy at the drop of a word.” Sir Iain said he had “no idea” who appoints its personnel.
Greg Clark, chairman of the science and technology committee, said the JBC “is much less transparent than Sage. If the measures are to enjoy public trust, this obscure organisation must be as open as Sage now is”.
The Government was forced to publish members of the Sage scientific committee and their advice earlier this year. In April, Boris Johnson pledged “maximum possible transparency” around decisions leading into lockdown. This was echoed in a note written by the JBC and considered by Sage a month later, which recommended that the body “should pursue a reputation as an organisation that the public can trust”.
The note added: “This will require them to be an exemplar in terms of honesty, openness, competence and independence. These principles should be embedded into every level.” JBC director Dr Waite, an epidemiologist who has worked at Public Health England since 2013 and refers to himself as a “disease detective”, appeared to concur in addressing the science and technology committee in September.
Questioned about the importance of context when assessing information, he replied: “That is why transparency is so important. It is important to take all of that information in the round.”
When asked how to ensure the public have the “right context”, he responded: “Having as much information and presenting all of it together is one of the really important things. The more information out there the better.”
Yet this information does not appear to include details about the composition of his organisation. The JBC advises local authorities and ministers and is responsible for setting the national coronavirus alert level as well as monitoring changes in infection spikes. It also advises on the quarantine list.
It is the “central brain” of the new £9billion NHS Test and Trace Service and is led by Dr Clare Gardiner, who has been seconded from the National Cyber Security Centre. Dr Gardiner reports to Baroness Harding, the chief of Test and Trace, which is overseen by Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary.
A Government spokesperson said the JBC “operates in the same way as any other part of the civil service’’, adding: “We have always sought to be as clear and transparent as possible.”
‘We need to know who they are, what their background is and who appointed them. They can kill the economy’