Recommendation 5

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

The Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been cross-governmental from the outset. Government’s decision-making mechanisms evolved to meet the demands of the pandemic. In line with its role as the mechanism through which the Government makes decisions in emergencies, from the start of the crisis, COBR acted as the central mechanism taking real-time decisions to coordinate the UK’s operational response. In March 2020, upon the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the Government created four bespoke Cabinet Committees known as Ministerial Implementation Groups (MIGs). The MIGs managed the whole of the Government response, with a specific general public sector MIG that considered preparedness across the rest of the public and critical national infrastructure, excluding the NHS. In June 2020, these were replaced by the COVID-19 Strategy Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, to drive the Government’s strategic response to COVID-19 and recovery; and the COVID-19 Operations Committee, to deliver the policy and operational response, chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The COVID-19 Taskforce was established in May 2020 and was responsible for coordinating the Government’s response to the pandemic. The Taskforce worked with Departments across Government to perform this role including: supporting decision-making through Cabinet committees; developing overarching strategy; and providing data and analysis. Accountability for individual COVID-19 related programmes rests with Senior Responsible Owners of those programmes within Government Departments. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) owns a large number of COVID-19 related legislation and policies. The Government’s coordination of the response will continue to evolve as we move towards COVID-19 becoming endemic in the UK, drawing on capabilities such as the Pandemic Diseases Capabilities Board formed in July 2021, co-chaired by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office and DHSC to support pandemic planning across Government. The public inquiry into COVID-19 will play a key role in examining the UK’s pandemic response and ensuring that we learn the right lessons for the future. The inquiry was formally established on 28 June with the publication of its final terms of reference. The Government looks forward to receiving the inquiry’s findings and recommendations in due course