Should the Welsh scientific advisory board members be named?
By ITV News Wales Correspondent Rupert Evelyn
In London, there is SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), in Wales the equivalent is TAC (Technical Advisory Cell).
We asked the Welsh Government who sits on it and were given an official written statement but only one name.
It is co-chaired by Dr Rob Orford, the Welsh Government's Chief Scientific Advisor, and the Deputy Director for Tech & Digital. An internet search suggests this is Fliss Bennee.
TAC, we are told, is "needed to provide official sensitive advice to ministers" and meets three times a week.
A long list of experts from a variety of specialisms are members along with unnamed people from the Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and some academics.
We also asked if any Welsh Government special advisors attend but didn't get an answer.
TAC, we were informed, is designed to "interpret SAGE outputs into a Welsh context..." and "...relay relevant info and questions from WG to SAGE".
But it's more than just an intermediary.
TAC is powerful and persuasive; giving briefings, aiming to ensure interventions by policy makers don't cause "indirect harm", identifying key numbers for NHS planning, generating behavioural science insights for policy makers and ensuring the NHS tests and trials key interventions.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has previously asked for more transparency, to which the First Minister Mark Drakeford told BBC Wales he wasn’t sure “how much direct use it would be”.
Welsh Conservatives leader Paul Davies AM also called on Mr Drakeford for “complete openness” over who sits on the Tactical Advisory Cell (TAC).
“They will be supplying ministers with sensitive data on which policy and responses to Coronavirus have been, are being, and will be made, so it is vital that the Welsh Government gives the people of Wales the reassurance they need by publishing the names and areas of expertise as a priority," Mr Davies said.
Given the value placed by the Welsh Government both on TAC and on SAGE and the impact its input has on the lives of millions of people, is it time for more transparency?
Paul Davies AM has called on the First Minister for “complete openness” over who sits on the Tactical Advisory Cell (TAC), the Welsh Government’s scientific advisory group.
“They will be supplying ministers with sensitive data on which policy and responses to Coronavirus have been, are being, and will be made, so it is vital that the Welsh Government gives the people of Wales the reassurance they need by publishing the names and areas of expertise as a priority," he said.