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

55 recommendations total

35%

47%

19 (35%) — Accepted

5 (9%) — Accepted in Part

3 (5%) — Under Review

26 (47%) — Awaiting Response

2 (4%) — Not Applicable

Data last updated: 16 Jul 2026 · Data verified: 14 Jul 2026 (Claude)

Key facts

Duration (ongoing): 4 years, 3 months Total cost: £213.7m

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

14 Jul 2026 11 tracked recs Module 5: Procurement · 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

Show all 15 milestones

09 Sep 2024 Module 3: Healthc… Module 3 examining impact on healthcare systems began.

20 Nov 2025 Module 2 report p… The Inquiry published its report on core UK decision-making and political governance (Modules 2, 2A, 2B and 2C). · Source

31 Dec 2025 Further Modules P… Modules on vaccines, care sector, and other topics planned through 2026.

05 Mar 2026 Hearings conclude The Inquiry concluded its public hearings with Module 10, after 32 preliminary and 242 public hearing days involving … · Source

19 Mar 2026 Module 3 report p… The Inquiry published its report on the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems in the four nations … · Source

16 Apr 2026 Module 4 report p… The Inquiry published its report on vaccines and therapeutics (Module 4). · Source

14 Jul 2026 Module 5 report p… The Inquiry published its report on procurement (Module 5). · Source

Recommendations

26 shown (filtered)

Code	Recommendation	Addressed to	Response
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 →
COVID-M5.1	Pandemic Stockpile Composition and Inspection The UK government and devolved administrations should ensure, within 12 months of the publication of this Report, that the pandemic stockpiles: retain …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.2	Pandemic Exercises to Include Emergency Procurement The UK government and devolved administrations should evaluate the readiness of the structures, systems and processes for the emergency procurement and distribution …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.3	Emergency Procurement and Distribution Systems The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, within 12 months of the publication of this Report, should each …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.4	Emergency Healthcare Equipment Regulations The UK government and devolved administrations should publish simplified regulations for emergency healthcare equipment that are aligned with and cover the range …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.5	Emergency Healthcare Equipment Plan UK regulators, including the Health and Safety Executive, the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, the Office for Product Safety and …	Health and Safety Executive	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.6	Blueprints for Critical Care Medical Technology The UK government and devolved administrations should jointly commission a group of experts to develop blueprints for rapidly scalable critical care medical …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.7	Trade and Industry in the Civil Emergency Strategy The UK-wide whole-system civil emergency strategy, which the Inquiry has recommended should be developed by the UK government and devolved administrations (see …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.8	Training in Emergency Procurement and Distribution The UK government and devolved administrations should each establish a pool of officials who are trained in the emergency procurement and distribution …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.9	Commercial Framework for Emergency Procurement The UK government and devolved administrations should collaborate to establish a UK-wide commercial framework agreement of pre-approved external specialists in the emergency …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.10	Transparency, Governance and Accountability in Emergencies The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should improve transparency, governance and accountability for procurement in an emergency. …	Cabinet Office	No Published Response	View →
COVID-M5.11	Data and Technology in Emergency Procurement Within three years of the publication of this Report, the systems for the procurement and distribution of healthcare equipment should be digitalised …	Department of Health and Social Care	No Published Response	View →

Parliamentary activity

242 mentions since Jul 2020

9 debates 98 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 242 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