Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Paragraph: 23
We support the creation of the UK Health Security Agency as a new body designed...
Recommendation
We support the creation of the UK Health Security Agency as a new body designed to ensure the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to future pandemics. In line with Lord Wolfson’s suggestion that expertise in the criminal law needs in future to be brought into pandemic planning, we urge the Government to ensure that the Agency has sufficient expertise in the criminal law, and factors such expertise into future pandemic preparation. We support the creation of the UK Health Security Agency as a new body designed to ensure the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to future pandemics.
Paragraph Reference:
23
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is the country’s public health agency, responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents and other health threats. It provides intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation’s health secure. UKHSA works closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and with Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat to convene cross-government preparedness and response plans for future health security risks including pandemics. We agree with the Committee’s conclusion that there are lessons to be learned from our experiences over the last two years, and we will draw upon expertise within UKHSA and other bodies in understanding this picture. The Government’s response to the pandemic has involved almost every aspect of public services in local and central government and in the devolved administrations, with a significant international component. It is therefore likely that central government departments will be best placed to consider the role of the criminal justice system in protecting public health during pandemics and ensure that the right expertise in areas such as the criminal law is fed into the policy process. We continue to review the effectiveness of measures to protect public health including levels of compliance and the role of enforcement through the criminal justice system in our preparedness for future pandemics and other health emergencies.