The responsibility for long-term management of emergencies (including prevention, contingency planning, response and recovery) sits with the accountable, policy- owning Government Departments and their respective Ministers in accordance with the principle of lead government department. The Government will continue to call on the best scientific advice available to inform decision-making in emergencies as required. The process for providing such advice is flexible, to cope with the differing circumstances and characteristics of each emergency. Many departments and agencies have access to specialist scientific and technical advice to support the delivery of their core business and duties. Where a cross-government emergency response is activated and multiple sources of science advice are needed, the advice may be coordinated by committees such as SAGE, and this will be done on a case-by-case basis. SAGE, should only be used for the most serious emergencies that have significant uncertainty, cutting across multiple departments where cross-department working adds value and clarity to the consensus decisions that will need to be taken. SAGE does not have a role in all emergencies (examples may include emergencies where the science is not cross-discipline or where other long-standing crisis response mechanisms exist). The Government keeps all its crisis management doctrines under review, and its lessons learned processes, following any major civil emergency and response arrangements, evolve in response to these. This work will be taken forward by the Cabinet Office (CO) in conjunction with GO-Science to learn from the response to Covid-19 including how scientific advice can inform the long-term management of emergencies, whilst considering the unique circumstances of Covid-19. Activation and operation of SAGE