UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1: The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom (July 2024)

Summary

The Covid-19 Inquiry published its first report and recommendations following its investigation into the UK’s ‘Resilience and preparedness (Module 1)’.

The Chair of the Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, set out her recommendations from the Module 1 report in a live streamed statement.

It examines the state of the UK’s central structures and procedures for pandemic emergency preparedness, resilience and response.

Reports related to the Inquiry’s further Modules will be published later.

Content

The Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, is urging the new UK government and the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to implement promptly her 10 key recommendations following publication of the Inquiry’s report of its first investigation into the nation’s resilience and preparedness for the pandemic.

Recommendations

1. Each government should create a single Cabinet-level or equivalent ministerial committee (including the senior minister responsible for health and social care) responsible for whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience, to be chaired by the leader or deputy leader of the relevant government. There should also be a single cross-departmental group of senior officials in each government to oversee and implement policy on civil emergency preparedness and resilience.
2. The lead government department model for whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience is not appropriate and should be abolished.
3. The UK government and devolved administrations should develop a new approach to risk assessment that moves away from reliance on reasonable worst-case scenarios towards an approach that assesses a wider range of scenarios representative of the different risks and the range of each kind of risk. It should also better reflect the circumstances and characteristics particular to England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.
4. A new UK-wide whole-system civil emergency strategy should be put in place and it should be subject to a substantive reassessment at least every three years to ensure that it is up to date and effective, and incorporates lessons learned from civil emergency exercises.
5. The UK government and devolved administrations should establish new mechanisms for the timely collection, analysis, secure sharing and use of reliable data for informing emergency responses, such as data systems to be tested in pandemic exercises. In addition, a wider range of ‘hibernated’ and other studies should be commissioned that are designed to be rapidly adapted to a new outbreak.
6. The UK government and devolved administrations should hold a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years.
7. Each government should publish a report within three months of the completion of each civil emergency exercise summarising the findings, lessons and recommendations, and should publish within six months of the exercise an action plan setting out the specific steps to be taken in response to the report’s findings. All exercise reports, action plans, emergency plans and guidance from across the UK should be kept in a single UK-wide online archive, accessible to all involved in emergency preparedness, resilience and response.
8. Each government should produce and publish a report to their respective legislatures on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience at least every three years.
9. External ‘red teams’ should be regularly used in the Civil Service of the UK government and devolved administrations to scrutinise and challenge the principles, evidence, policies and advice relating to preparedness for and resilience to whole-system civil emergencies.
10. The UK government, in consultation with the devolved administrations, should create a UK-wide independent statutory body for whole-system civil emergency preparedness, resilience and response. The body should provide independent, strategic advice to the UK government and devolved administrations, consult with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector at a national and local level.