Inquiry publishes first report and 10 recommendations focused on pandemic resilience and preparedness

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.

These recommendations, made public on Thursday 18 July 2024, include a major overhaul of how the UK government prepares for civil emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key recommendations include a radical simplification of civil emergency preparedness and resilience systems, holding a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years and the creation of a single, independent statutory body responsible for whole system preparedness and response.

It is the first of several reports setting out the Inquiry’s recommendations and findings.

Module 1 examined the state of the UK’s structures and the procedures in place to prepare for and respond to a pandemic.

Hearings for Module 1 were held in London in June and July 2023 and the Chair heard from current and former politicians as well as key scientists, experts, civil servants and bereaved family members.

Following these hearings, the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations are set out in the report published today. The publication of the first report has been welcomed by some of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. Dr Alan Wightman from North Yorkshire, lost his mother in early-May 2020 to Covid-19 that she had acquired in her care home in Fife, Scotland.

In her findings, the Chair concludes that the UK’s system of building preparedness for the pandemic suffered from several significant flaws.

These include a flawed approach to risk assessment, a failure to fully learn from past civil emergency exercises and outbreaks of disease, and Ministers not receiving a broad enough range of scientific advice and failing to challenge the advice they did get.

Baroness Hallett acknowledges the pressure on politicians and others to make tough decisions about how resources should be used. However, she also stresses that if the UK had been better prepared, the nation could have avoided some of the significant and long-lasting financial, economic and human costs of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In summary her recommendations are:

• A radical simplification of the civil emergency preparedness and resilience systems. This includes rationalising and streamlining the current bureaucracy and providing better, simpler Ministerial and official structures and leadership;
• A new approach to risk assessment that provides for a better and more comprehensive evaluation of a wider range of actual risks;
• A new UK-wide approach to the development of strategy, which learns lessons from the past and from regular civil emergency exercises and takes proper account of existing inequalities and vulnerabilities;
  Better systems of data collection and sharing in advance of future pandemics, and the commissioning of a wider range of research projects;
• Holding a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years and publishing the outcome;
  Bringing in external expertise from outside government and the Civil Service to challenge and guard against the known problem of ‘groupthink’;
• Publication of regular reports on the system of civil emergency preparedness and resilience;
• Lastly and most importantly, the creation of a single, independent statutory body responsible for whole system preparedness and response. It will consult widely, for example with experts in the field of preparedness and resilience and the voluntary, community and social sector, and provide strategic advice to government and make recommendations.

The Chair believes that all 10 recommendations are reasonable and deliverable and all must be implemented in a timely manner. The Inquiry and the Chair will be monitoring the implementation of the recommendations and will hold those in power to account.

The Chair has today restated her aim to conclude all public hearings by summer 2026, and to publish reports with findings and recommendations as the Inquiry progresses.

The Inquiry’s next report – focusing on Core UK decision-making and political governance – including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Modules 2, 2A, 2B and 2C) – is expected to be published in 2025.

Future reports will focus on specific areas, including:

• Modules 2, 2A, 2B, 2C: Core UK decision-making and political governance – including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Module 3: Healthcare systems
• Module 4: Vaccines and therapeutics
• Module 5: Procurement – procurement and distribution of key equipment and supplies
• Module 6: The care sector
• Module 7: Test, trace, and isolate programmes
• Module 8: Children and young people
• Module 9: Economic response to the pandemic

For more details of these modules visit the Inquiry’s website.

The Chair is also examining the best way to fulfil her Terms of Reference and investigate the impact of the pandemic on the population of the UK. This will cover a wide range of those affected and include the impact on mental health.