DfE's chief scientific adviser clarifies controversial comments

The Department for Education’s chief scientific adviser Osama Rahman has written a letter to the science and technology committee to clarify his comments about his involvement in school reopening plans.

Osama Rahman said he had not assessed the effectiveness of government guidance on how to reopen schools safely, when speaking at the science and technology committee.

When later asked about the transmission of the coronavirus and whether the plans increased the risk of children spreading the virus, Rahman said: “Possibly, depending on school sizes.” He also said the decision to reopen schools was made by cabinet, not the DfE.

In the letter, Rahman said he has “full confidence” in the plans, “subject to the conditionality of the five tests, including a decreasing transmission rate”.

He wrote he was involved “in all parts of the guidance recently published by the Department for Education and fed in at various stages”.

He said he and his team have been “closely involved in advising on the government’s position on reopening education institutions”, including being at “all meetings of the children’s task and finish working group, a sub-group of SAGE, which has made a key contribution to the recent decision”.

“Throughout, the Department for Education has been led by the science at all of these key decision points and that will continue to be the case throughout this pandemic.”
The letter was published to “offer some important points of clarification in case my position is misrepresented”.