Public Inquiry

UK COVID-19 Inquiry

Status: Ongoing Chair: Baroness Heather Hallett Established: Apr 2022 Commissioned by: Cabinet Office

Public inquiry examining the UK's response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and learning lessons for the future. The inquiry is examining preparedness, decision-making, health and social care, vaccines, and the impact on different communities.

Response breakdown

44 recommendations total

23%

68%

10 (23%) — Accepted

3 (7%) — Accepted in Part

1 (2%) — Under Review

30 (68%) — Awaiting Response

Reports & milestones

Reports

18 Jul 2024 10 tracked recs Module 1: Resilience and Preparedness · Tracked recommendations · PDF

20 Nov 2025 19 tracked recs Module 2: Core Decision-Making · Tracked recommendations · PDF

19 Mar 2026 10 tracked recs Module 3: Impact on Healthcare Systems · Tracked recommendations · PDF

16 Apr 2026 5 tracked recs Module 4: Vaccines and Therapeutics · Tracked recommendations · PDF

30 Nov 2023 0 tracked recs Every Story Matters · PDF

Timeline

12 May 2021 Inquiry Announced Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a statutory public inquiry. · Source

15 Dec 2021 Chair Appointed Baroness Hallett appointed as Chair.

28 Jun 2022 Terms of Referenc… Terms of Reference finalised after consultation. · Source

04 Oct 2022 Preliminary Heari… First preliminary hearing held.

13 Jun 2023 Module 1 Hearings… Module 1 examining preparedness and resilience began.

03 Oct 2023 Module 2 Hearings Module 2 examining core UK decision-making.

15 Jan 2024 Module 2 Devolved… Hearings examining Scottish, Welsh and NI decision-making.

18 Jul 2024 Module 1 Report P… First report on pandemic preparedness published. · Source

Recommendations

44 shown

Code	Recommendation	Addressed to	Response
COVID-M1.1	Simplify Emergency Preparedness Structures The governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should each simplify and reduce the number of structures with responsibility for …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.2	Cabinet Office Leadership for Emergencies The UK government should: abolish the lead government department model for whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience; and require the Cabinet Office …	Cabinet Office	Accepted in Part	View →
COVID-M1.3	Improved Risk Assessment Approach The UK government and devolved administrations should work together on developing a new approach to risk assessment that moves away from a …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.4	UK-wide Civil Emergency Strategy The UK government and devolved administrations should together introduce a UK-wide whole-system civil emergency strategy (which includes pandemics) to prevent each emergency …	Cabinet Office	Accepted in Part	View →
COVID-M1.5	Pandemic Data Systems and Research The UK government, working with the devolved administrations, should establish mechanisms for the timely collection, analysis, secure sharing and use of reliable …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.6	Triennial Pandemic Exercises The UK government and devolved administrations should together hold a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years. The exercise should: …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.7	Publish Exercise Reports and Lessons For all civil emergency exercises, the governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should each (unless there are reasons of …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.8	Triennial Parliamentary Resilience Reports The governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should each produce and publish reports to their respective legislatures at least …	Cabinet Office	Accepted in Part	View →
COVID-M1.9	External Red Teams for Resilience The governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should each introduce the use of red teams in the Civil Service …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M1.10	Independent Statutory Resilience Body The UK government should, in consultation with the devolved administrations, create a statutory independent body for whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience. …	Cabinet Office	Under Consideration	View →
COVID-M2.1	NI CMO Independence The Department of Health (Northern Ireland) should reconstitute the role of the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland as an independent advisory …	Northern Ireland Executive	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.2	Devolved Nations SAGE Attendance The Government Office for Science (GO-Science) should invite the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to nominate a small number of …	Government Office for Science	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.3	UK-wide Expert Register The Government Office for Science (GO-Science) should develop and maintain a register of experts across the four nations of the UK who …	Government Office for Science	Accepted	View →
COVID-M2.4	Publish Technical Advice During Emergencies During a whole-system civil emergency, the UK government and devolved administrations should each routinely publish technical advice on scientific, economic and social …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.5	Advisory Group Terms of Appointment The Government Office for Science (GO-Science), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) should each develop …	Government Office for Science	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.6	Enact Socio-economic Duty The UK government should bring into force in England section 1 of the Equality Act 2010, implementing the socio-economic duty. The Northern …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.7	Statutory Child Rights Impact Assessments The UK government should introduce legislation to place child rights impact assessments on a statutory footing in England. The Northern Ireland Executive …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.8	Vulnerable People Framework The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should each agree a framework that identifies people who would be …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.9	NI Emergency Powers Review The Northern Ireland Executive and UK government (in consultation with the Irish government where necessary) should review the structures and delegated powers …	Northern Ireland Executive	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.10	Pandemic Decision-Making Framework The UK government and devolved administrations should set out in future pandemic preparedness strategies how decision-making will work in a future pandemic. …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.11	Leadership Succession Arrangements The UK government and the devolved administrations should each establish formal arrangements for covering the roles of Prime Minister and First Minister …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.12	Central Emergency Taskforces The response to a future whole-system civil emergency should be coordinated via central taskforces in each of the UK, Scotland, Wales and …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.13	NI Executive Confidentiality Duty The Executive Office should amend the Ministerial Code to impose a duty of confidentiality on ministers that prohibits the disclosure of the …	The Executive Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.14	Accessible Emergency Communications The UK government and the devolved administrations should each develop action plans for how government communications will be made more accessible during …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.15	Parliamentary Scrutiny of Emergency Powers The UK government and devolved administrations should ensure that the draft affirmative procedure is the standard process for enacting substantial and wide-ranging …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.16	Civil Contingencies Act Review The UK government should undertake a review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to assess its potential role in managing future civil …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M2.17	Public Emergency Information Portal The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should develop an online portal for use in future civil emergencies, …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M2.18	Devolved Nations COBR Attendance The UK government should invite the devolved administrations, as a matter of standard practice, to nominate relevant ministers and officials to attend …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M2.19	Four Nations Pandemic Structure While intergovernmental relations should be facilitated through COBR in the initial months of any future pandemic, the UK government and devolved administrations …	Cabinet Office	Accepted	View →
COVID-M3.1	IPC Structures and Transmission Risk The UK government must ensure that there is a body (equivalent to the UK Infection Prevention and Control Cell) in place ready …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.2	Visiting Restrictions Guidance The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should publish guidance for the implementation of visiting restrictions in hospitals …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.3	Fit-Testing Preparedness The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should work with employers, including health boards and trusts, to review …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.4	Data Systems for High-Risk Individuals The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive must ensure that health data and digital systems have the capability …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.5	Scale Up Urgent and Emergency Care The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, in conjunction with organisations responsible for delivering services, should plan for …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.6	Scale Up Hospital Capacity The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should work with trusts and health boards to ensure that pandemic …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.7	ICU Resource Allocation Framework The UK government and devolved administrations should publish a UK-wide framework setting out ethical and operational principles to guide the allocation of …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.8	Recording Healthcare Worker Deaths The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should work with their respective public health agencies and healthcare employers …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.9	Standardised Advance Care Planning The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, working with trusts and health boards, should establish and promote one …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M3.10	Healthcare Worker Support The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, working with healthcare employers and professional bodies, should put in place …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M4.1	Establish Pharmaceutical Expert Advisory Panel The UK government should establish a standing pharmaceutical expert advisory panel, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Care and …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Response	View →
COVID-M4.2	Formalise Community Vaccine Equity Networks The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should maintain networks with local communities to produce targeted vaccination strategies …	UK Health Security Agency	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M4.3	Improve Vaccine Uptake Monitoring and Evaluation Each of the four UK public health or health security agencies should work together to: maintain accurate, UK-wide insight into the state …	UK Health Security Agency	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M4.4	Proportionate Access to Linked Healthcare Records The UK government and devolved administrations should work together, with their respective health delivery services, to facilitate and coordinate regulatory bodies' access …	Medicines and Healthcare products Reg…	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M4.5	Reform Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme The UK government must reform the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme as soon as possible. The reform should include as a minimum: increasing …	Department for Work and Pensions	No Response	View →

Parliamentary activity

256 mentions since Jul 2020

9 debates 112 questions 36 statements

03 Jun 2026 Written Question Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative)

01 Jun 2026 Written Question Covid-19 Inquiry
Jess Asato (Labour)

20 May 2026 Written Ministerial Statement UK COVID-19 Inquiry response costs for Quarter 3 25/26
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour)

20 May 2026 Written Ministerial Statement UK COVID-19 Inquiry response costs for Quarter 3 25/26
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour)

19 May 2026 Written Question Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat)

View all 256 mentions →

Costs

Total: £213,708,000

Period	Total	Inquiry legal	CP legal	Source
Mar 2026 (cum.)	£213,708,000	£67,344,000	£54,773,000	link
Sep 2025	£19,012,000	£10,892,000	£8,471,000	link
Mar 2025	£66,723,000	£18,704,000	£20,470,000	link
Mar 2024	£80,889,000	£20,453,000	£19,335,000	link
Mar 2023	£25,625,000	£9,210,000	£3,129,000	link