Recommendation 30

The Cabinet Office explained that decisions about the rules were taken by the COVID-O (Operations) ministerial committee who met frequently, with support from committees and working groups of officials.56 The NAO found that supporting groups had 49 C&AG’s Report, para 1.5 50 Qq 61, 70–71 51 Qq 101–103; C&AG’s report, para 2.30 52 Committee of Public Accounts, Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk, Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2021–22, HC 952, 23 March 2022, summary, para 5 53 C&AG’s Report, para 22 54 Qq 77, 149, 153, 149 55 Qq 150, 152 56 Qq 78–83 20 Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic no formal decision-making role nor minutes. We asked witnesses how they would ensure that their lessons learned will be readable, available and accessible to future generations given that technology may have moved on when the next pandemic occurs. The Cabinet Office told us that it was collecting 200,000 documents for the upcoming public inquiry. We emphasised the importance of documents providing an honest assessment of what went right and wrong so government can improve its responses in future crises.57 57 Qq 85–86, 110, 133, 151; C&AG’s Report, para 1.9 Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic 21