Inquiry Recommendations

Dawladaha UK, Scotland, Wales iyo Northern Ireland waa in mid kastaa fududeeyaa oo dhimaa tirada qaab-dhismeedka iyada oo mas'uul ka ah diyaarinta iyo dhisidda adkeysiga xaaladaha degdegga ah ee nidaamka oo dhan.

Qaab dhismeedka xudunta u ah waa in ay ahaadaan:

• Guddi heer wasiir ah ama mid u dhigma oo heer wasiir ah (oo uu ku jiro wasiirka sare ee mas'uulka ka ah caafimaadka iyo daryeelka bulshada) ayaa mas'uul ka ah dhammaan nidaamka u diyaargarowga xaaladda degdegga ah ee madaniga ah iyo adkeysiga dowlad kasta, kaas oo si joogto ah u kulmaya waxaana guddoomiye u ah hoggaamiyaha ama ku xigeenka hoggaamiyaha ay khuseyso. dawladda; iyo
• koox qudha oo ka kooban saraakiil sarsare oo dawlad kasta ah (kuwaas oo si joogto ah uga warbixiya heer wasiir ama guddi wasiiro oo u dhigma) si ay u kormeeraan una hirgeliyaan siyaasadda u diyaargarowga iyo u adkaysiga xaaladda degdegga ah ee madaniga ah.

Tani waa in lagu meel geliyo 12 bilood gudahooda laga bilaabo daabacaadda Warbixintan.

6 bilood gudahood laga bilaabo abuuritaanka kooxda saraakiisha sare, waa in ay dhamaystirtaa dib u eegis si loo fududeeyo loona yareeyo tirada qaabdhismeedka ka mas'uulka ah udiyaar garowga xaalada degdega ah ee madaniga ah oo dhan iyo adkeysiga.

Intaa ka dib, 24 bilood gudahood laga bilaabo daabacaadda Warbixintan, guddiga wasiiradu waa in ay caqli galiyaan oo habeeyaan kooxaha hoos yimaada ama taageeraya iyo guddiyada ka mas'uulka ah u-diyaargarowga xaaladda degdegga ah ee madaniga ah ee nidaamka oo dhan iyo adkeysiga. Koox kasta iyo guddiyo kasta oo la hayo ama loo abuuray inay taageeraan qaab-dhismeedkan udub-dhexaadka ah waa inay lahaadaan ujeeddo cad oo waa inay si joogto ah uga warbixiyaan horumarka iyo dhammaystirka, hawlaha loo xilsaaray.

Dawladda Boqortooyada Midowday (UK) iyo maamullada la kala diray waa in ay ka wada shaqeeyaan sidii loo samayn lahaa hab cusub oo qiimaynta khatarta ah taas oo ka guuraysa ku tiirsanaanta xaaladaha ugu xun ee macquulka ah ee loo wajaho hab:

• wuxuu qiimeeyaa xaalado kala duwan oo kala duwan oo ka tarjumaya khataraha kala duwan iyo baaxadda nooc kasta oo khatar ah;
• waxay tixgelisaa ka-hortagga iyo yaraynta xaalad degdeg ah marka lagu daro wax ka qabashada cawaaqibkeeda;
• waxay bixisaa falanqayn buuxda oo ku saabsan siyaabaha ay saamaynta isku dhafan ee khataraha kala duwan ay u adkeyn karaan ama uga sii dari karaan xaalad degdeg ah;
• wuxuu qiimeeyaa khataraha mustaqbalka fog marka lagu daro khataraha muddada-gaaban wuxuuna tixgeliyaa sida ay isula dhaqmi karaan;
• wuxuu sameeyaa qiimaynta saamaynta ay khatar kasta ku leedahay dadka nugul; iyo
• waxay ku xisaabtamaysaa awoodda iyo kartida UK.

Marka sidaas la samaynayo, dawladda UK iyo maamulada la kala diray waa in ay sameeyaan qiimayno khatar ah oo ka tarjumaysa duruufaha iyo sifooyinka gaarka ah ee England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland iyo UK guud ahaan.

Dawladda Boqortooyada Midowday (UK) iyo maamullada la kala diray waa inay si wadajir ah u soo bandhigaan istaraatijiyad degdeg ah oo guud oo UK ah (oo ay ku jiraan masiibooyinka) si looga hortago xaalad kasta oo degdeg ah iyo sidoo kale in la yareeyo, la xakameeyo oo la yareeyo saameynteeda.

Ugu yaraan, xeeladdu waa inay:

• la qabsan karo;
• ku dar qaybo u go'ay xaalad kasta oo suurtagal ah oo nidaamka guud ee degdega ah - tusaale ahaan, mid ku saabsan masiibooyinka oo leh sharraxaad cad oo ku saabsan doorarka iyo mas'uuliyadaha dawladda UK, maamullada la wareejiyay iyo waaxyadooda/agaasimadooda iyo sidoo kale jawaab-bixiyeyaasha maxalliga ah;
• Tixgeli xaalado kala duwan oo suurtagal ah nooc kasta oo degdeg ah;
• in la caddeeyo arrimaha muhiimka ah oo dejiyo jawaabo kala duwan oo suurtagal ah;
• caddeyso sida xeeladda loo dabaqayo si loo hubiyo in jawaabaha suurtagalka ah ay u dhigmaan xaaladaha gaarka ah ee xaaladda degdegga ah;
• ku dar qiimaynta mustaqbalka dhow, dhexe iyo tan fog, ee ku salaysan qaabaynta la daabacay, ee saamaynta caafimaad, bulsho iyo dhaqaale ee iman karta xaalada degdega ah iyo wax ka qabashada xaaladaha degdega ah ee dadka iyo, gaar ahaan, dadka nugul; iyo
• waxaa ka mid ah qiimaynta kaabayaasha, farsamada iyo xirfadaha UK waxay u baahan tahay inay si wax ku ool ah uga jawaabto xaaladda degdegga ah iyo sida baahiyahaasi isu bedeli karaan xaalado kala duwan.

Istaraatiijiyadu waa in lagu sameeyaa dib-u-qiimeyn la taaban karo ugu yaraan saddexdii sanaba mar si loo hubiyo in ay tahay mid casri ah oo waxtar leh, oo lagu darayo casharradii laga bartay dib-u-qiimaynta.

Dawladda UK, oo la shaqaynaysa maamullada la kala diray, waa inay dejiso habab ururinta, falanqaynta, wadaagga sugan iyo isticmaalka xog sugan oo lagu wargelinayo jawaabaha degdegga ah, ka hor masiibada mustaqbalka. Nidaamyada xogta waa in lagu tijaabiyaa jimicsiga faafa.

Dawladda UK waa in ay sidoo kale hawlgelisaa mashruucyo cilmi-baadhiseed oo ballaadhan oo diyaar u ah in la bilaabo haddii ay dhacdo masiibo mustaqbalka ah. Kuwani waxay noqon karaan daraasado 'jiif ah' ama daraasado jira oo loogu talagalay in si degdeg ah loola qabsado dillaac cusub. La shaqaynta wanaagsan ee la-hawlgalayaasha caalamiga ah waa in la dhiirigeliyaa. Tan waa inay ku jiraan mashaariicda:

• faham faafidda fayraska cusub;
• cabbiro waxtarka cabbirrada kala duwan ee caafimaadka dadweynaha; iyo
• Aqoonso kooxaha dadka nugul ee sida daran u saameeyey masiibada iyo sababta.

Dawladda Boqortooyada Midowday (UK) iyo maamullada la kala diray waa inay si wada jir ah u qabtaan layli ka jawaab celin masiibo oo UK oo dhan ah ugu yaraan saddexdii sannadoodba mar.

Layliga waa inuu:

• tijaabi jawaabta guud ee Boqortooyada Midowday, iskutallaabta, heer qaran iyo heer maxalli ee masiibada heer kasta, laga soo bilaabo dillaaca bilowga ilaa mowjado badan oo dhowr sano ah;
• ku dar tiro balaadhan oo ah kuwa ku lug leh u diyaargarowga iyo wax ka qabashada masiibada; iyo
• Ka fiirso sida dad badan oo nugul loo caawin doono haddii ay dhacdo masiibo.

Dhammaan leyliga degdega ah ee madaniga ah, dawladaha UK, Scotland, Wales iyo Northern Ireland waa in mid walba (haddii aysan jirin sababo amniga qaranka oo aan sidaas la yeelin):

• daabac warbixin jimicsi oo koobaysa natiijooyinka, casharrada iyo talooyinka, saddex bilood gudahooda laga bilaabo dhamaadka layliga;
• daabac qorshe hawleed qeexaya tillaabooyinka gaarka ah ee la qaadi doono si looga jawaabo natiijooyinka warbixinta, iyo cidda ay khusayso, lix bilood gudahooda ee gabagabada layliga; iyo
• Hayso warbixinada jimicsiga, qorshayaasha waxqabadka, iyo qorshayaasha degdega ah iyo hagida UK oo dhan hal, kayd online oo dhan UK, oo la heli karo dhammaan ku lug leh u diyaargarowga degdega ah, adkeysiga iyo ka jawaabista.

Dawladaha UK, Scotland, Wales iyo Waqooyiga Ireland waa in mid kastaa soo saaro oo daabacaa warbixinnada sharci-dejintooda ugu yaraan saddexdii sanaba mar habka guud ee u diyaargarowga xaaladda degdegga ah ee madaniga ah iyo adkeysiga.

Warbixinada waa in ay ku jiraan ugu yaraan:

• Khatarta ay dawlad kastaa aqoonsatay waxay u badan tahay inay ka dhashaan xaalado degdeg ah oo nidaamka oo dhan ah;
• tallooyinka loo soo jeediyay dawlad kasta si loo yareeyo khatartaas, iyo in talooyinkan la aqbalay ama la diiday;
• Falanqaynta kharashka-faa'iidada oo qeexaysa kharashaadka dhaqaale iyo bulsheed ee aqbalaadda khataraha sida ka dhanka ah qaadista tallaabo lagu dhimayo khataraha;
• kuwaas oo laga yaabo inay u nuglaadaan khataraha iyo talaabooyinka la qaadayo si loo yareeyo khatarahaas;
• qorshe qeexaya waqtiyada lagu fulinayo talooyinka la aqbalay; iyo
• warbixin ku saabsan horumarka laga gaaray hirgelinta talooyinka hore loo aqbalay.

Dawladaha UK, Scotland, Wales iyo Waqooyiga Ireland waa in mid kastaa soo bandhigaa adeegsiga kooxaha cas ee Adeegga Madaniga ah si ay u baaraan ugana doodaan mabaadi'da, caddaynta, siyaasadaha iyo talada la xidhiidha u diyaargarowga iyo u adkeysiga dhammaan nidaamka xaaladaha degdegga ah ee madaniga ah. Kooxaha cas waa in laga keenaa meelo ka baxsan dawladda iyo shaqaalaha dawladda.

Dawladda UK waa in iyada oo la tashanaya maamullada la kala diray, ay abuurto hay'ad madax-bannaan oo qaanuuni ah oo u diyaarsanaanta xaaladda degdegga ah ee madaniga ah oo dhan.

Hay'adda cusub waa in loo dhiibaa mas'uuliyadda:

• siinta madax-bannaan, talo istiraatijiyadeed oo la siinayo dawladda UK iyo maamullada loo xilsaaray qorshahooda, u diyaargarowga iyo dhisidda adkeysiga dhammaan nidaamka xaaladaha degdegga ah ee madaniga ah;
• la tashanaya waaxda iskaa wax u qabso, bulshada iyo ganacsiga bulshada heer qaran iyo heer degmo iyo agaasimayaasha caafimaadka dadweynaha ilaalinta dadka nugul ee nidaamka guud ee xaaladaha degdegga ah ee madaniga ah;
• qiimaynta xaalada qorshaynta, u diyaarsanaanta iyo u adkaysiga xaaladaha degdega ah ee nidaamka guud ee UK; iyo
• soo jeedinta talooyinka ku saabsan awoodda iyo kartida looga baahan doono si loogu diyaargaroobo loona dhiso u adkeysiga xaaladaha degdegga ah ee nidaamka oo dhan.

Qiyaasta ku meel gaadhka ah, waa in hay'adda cusub lagu soo dhisaa qaab aan sharci ahayn 12 bilood gudahood ee warbixintan, si ay u bilowdo hawsheeda ka hor inta aan la ansixin sharciga.

The Department of Health (Northern Ireland) should reconstitute the role of the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland as an independent advisory role. The Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland should not have managerial responsibilities within the Department of Health (Northern Ireland).

The Government Office for Science (GO-Science) should develop and maintain a register of experts across the four nations of the UK who would be willing to participate in scientific advisory groups, covering a broad range of potential civil emergencies.

During a whole-system civil emergency, the UK government and devolved administrations should each routinely publish technical advice on scientific, economic and social matters at the earliest opportunity, as well as the minutes of expert advisory groups – except where there are good reasons that prevent publication, such as commercial confidentiality, personal safety or national security, or because legal advice privilege applies.

The Government Office for Science (GO-Science), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) should each develop standard terms of appointment for all participants in scientific advisory groups. These terms should include:

• clarity around the nature of an individual’s role and the extent of their responsibility, as well as the likely time commitment;
• payment where their time commitment means that they have to spend time away from their substantive role;
• access to support services; and access to advice on personal and online security, with procedures for escalating specific concerns.

The UK government should bring into force in England section 1 of the Equality Act 2010, implementing the socio-economic duty.

The Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive should consider an equivalent provision within section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The UK government should introduce legislation to place child rights impact assessments on a statutory footing in England.

The Northern Ireland Executive should consider an equivalent provision.

The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should each agree a framework that identifies people who would be most at risk of becoming infected by and dying from a disease and those who are most likely to be negatively impacted by any steps taken to respond to a future pandemic. The framework should set out the specific steps that could be taken to mitigate the risks to these people.

Equality impact assessments should form part of this framework. Where they cannot be undertaken in a national crisis, they should be reinstated as soon as possible.

Each government should agree and publish in its response to this Report how it will ensure that this framework is embedded into emergency decision-making and who will be responsible for ensuring these issues remain under consideration throughout a national crisis.

The Northern Ireland Executive and UK government (in consultation with the Irish government where necessary) should review the structures and delegated powers of government in Northern Ireland to consider:

• the empowerment of the First Minister and deputy First Minister jointly to direct the work of other ministers and departments during an emergency;

• the empowerment of the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in relation to the allocation of civil servants to departments or to civil contingency structures during an emergency; and

• how decisions that would usually be subject to ministerial approval would be taken should an emergency occur during the suspension of power-sharing arrangements.

The UK government and devolved administrations should set out in future pandemic preparedness strategies (see the Inquiry’s Module 1 Report, Recommendation 4) how decision-making will work in a future pandemic.

This should include provision for COBR to be used as the initial response structure and set out how the UK government and devolved administrations will transition from managing a pandemic through COBR to managing it through separate arrangements in each nation when it becomes clear that the  emergency will be longer-term.

It should include provision for longer-term decision-making structures in the UK government which consist of:

• a strategy group to set the overall approach to each stage of the pandemic and take decisions on major interventions (eg entering and exiting lockdown); and

• an operational group to take decisions on the implementation of the agreed strategy throughout the pandemic.

The design of these structures should include an outline of decision-making procedures for each group.

The strategy should make express provision for the involvement of the UK Cabinet in the decision-making of the strategy and operational groups.

It should also provide that longer-term decision-making should be conducted primarily by the UK, Scottish and Welsh Cabinets and the Northern Ireland

Executive.

Decision-making groups in each nation should include a minister with responsibility for representing the interests of vulnerable groups. In the UK government, the Minister for Women and Equalities may be the most appropriate minister in this regard.

The UK government and the devolved administrations should each establish formal arrangements for covering the roles of Prime Minister and First Minister (and in Northern Ireland, deputy First Minister) as applicable during a whole-system civil emergency, should the incumbent be unable to undertake their duties for any reason.

The response to a future whole-system civil emergency should be coordinated via central taskforces in each of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with responsibility for the commissioning and synthesis of advice, coordination of a single data picture and facilitation of decision-making processes. In preparation, the UK government and the devolved administrations should each design the operating procedures for these taskforces, including, but not limited to, identifying the key roles needed to run the taskforces and how those roles would be appointed.

The UK government should also identify the role of its taskforce in supporting decision-making procedures within the strategy and operational decision-making structures.

These arrangements should be incorporated into future pandemic preparedness strategies (see the Inquiry’s Module 1 Report, Recommendation 4).

The Executive Office should amend the Ministerial Code to impose a duty of confidentiality on ministers that prohibits the disclosure of the individual views of ministers expressed during meetings of the Northern Ireland Executive Committee.

The UK government and the devolved administrations should each develop action plans for how government communications will be made more accessible during a pandemic.

As a minimum, these should include making provision for the translation of government press conferences into British Sign Language (and Irish Sign Language in Northern Ireland) and the translation of key announcements into the most frequently spoken languages in the UK.

The UK government and devolved administrations should ensure that the draft affirmative procedure is the standard process for enacting substantial and wide- ranging powers in a civil emergency, such as a pandemic, under primary public health legislation.

Any departure from this procedure should be the exception, with clear criteria and safeguards in place to prevent the bypassing of parliamentary scrutiny. These safeguards should include:

• ‘sunset clauses’ for regulations made using the made affirmative procedure, specifying a clear expiration date, typically within two months; and

• a duty on ministers to report to their respective legislatures every two months on the exercise of emergency powers.

The UK government should undertake a review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to assess its potential role in managing future civil emergencies, including pandemics, and whether it could be employed as an interim emergency framework until more specific legislation with appropriate parliamentary safeguards is passed.

The review should:

• examine the conditions under which the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 may be invoked in a public health emergency;

• consider any adjustments to the Act’s safeguards, such as the triple lock test or time limits, that would make it more adaptable to pandemics; and

• produce clear guidance on the Act’s application for use in civil emergencies, including pandemics, to support its use as an emergency measure in advance of specific legislation – such as a dedicated pandemic bill – being passed.

The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should develop an online portal for use in future civil emergencies, where members of the public can access information on the legal restrictions that apply in their area and any associated guidance.

This portal should be easily accessible and its content should be written in straightforward and unambiguous language.

The UK government should invite the devolved administrations, as a matter of standard practice, to nominate relevant ministers and officials to attend COBR meetings in the event of relevant whole-system civil emergencies that have the potential to have UK-wide effects.

While intergovernmental relations should be facilitated through COBR in the initial months of any future pandemic, the UK government and devolved administrations should ensure that a specific four-nations structure, concerning pandemic response, is stood up at the same time as the transition away from COBR to nation-specific decision-making structures. This should meet regularly during a pandemic and be attended by all heads of government.

Arrangements for these four-nations meetings should be incorporated into future pandemic preparedness strategies (see the Inquiry’s Module 1 Report, Recommendation 4).