Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Paragraph: 10
The governance arrangements for responding to COVID-19 have not always been clear.
Recommendation
The governance arrangements for responding to COVID-19 have not always been clear. Press reports of a “quad” of Ministers making decisions in April raise questions of a parallel governance structure in addition to the formal Cabinet Committee structure. Such parallel systems risk creating silos where decisions are made without the full and proper discussion, advice or consultation that would be expected in Cabinet Committees. Any review of the Cabinet Office’s response to COVID-19 should include an examination of the governance arrangements for COVID-19, including COBR, the C-19 daily meetings, the “Quad” and Cabinet Committees. The Government must in its response to this report set out the governance arrangements and how decisions were made in response to COVID-19.
Paragraph Reference:
10
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The structures underpinning the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic have evolved over time. The virus appeared on 31 December 2019 and, within the first few days of January 2020, actions to respond to the threat had already begun in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) had been engaged. By mid-February, both the Cabinet and COBR had been convened to discuss the threat of the novel coronavirus and the Government’s contingency plans. COBR is the mechanism through which the Government makes decisions in emergencies. It played its role at the start of this crisis, acting as a central mechanism for taking real 4 Fifth Special Report of Session 2019–21 time decisions to coordinate the UK’s operational response. Throughout January to mid- March, there were regular COBR meetings overseeing preparedness and implementation of measures to respond to a potential novel-Coronavirus pandemic. Four Ministerial Implementation Groups (MIGs) were created on 17 March. The MIGs were a set of ministerial committees which considered specific issues and ministers holding relevant policy responsibilities attended. These four committees focused on healthcare, the general public sector, economic and business, and international response. The four committees were chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab respectively. They were tailored to coordinate a widening of the response to the coronavirus pandemic across Government, incorporating policy and strategy. The MIGs fed into a daily Strategy meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister. During this period COBR meetings continued to be convened to take decisions as needed. The MIGs met regularly in the first phase of the Government’s COVID-19 response effort but were always intended to operate as an interim governance structure. These ‘implementation committees’ were replaced by two new Covid-19 related cabinet committees in June 2020: ‘COVID-19 Strategy’ and ‘COVID-19 Operations’. The PM chairs the COVID-19 Strategy (COVID-S) Committee to drive the Government’s strategic response to COVID-19: considering the impact of the virus; the response to it; and setting the direction for the recovery strategy. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs the COVID-19 Operations (COVID-O) Committee, to deliver the policy and operational response to COVID-19.