Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The UK National Security Strategy is clear that we need to increase our preparations for potential threats, from future pandemics to energy and supply chain disruption.

The UK's alliances and partnerships are critical to our safety and our collective security is a source of significant strength. But it must be delivered in the right way, mitigating against areas of over-dependence and moving instead towards interdependence.

We are embedding lessons from COVID-19, including those of the COVID-19 Inquiry. The largest ever national pandemic response exercise was conducted last year, testing coordination efforts across all regions and nations of the UK and we published the new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy in March 2026, alongside £1 billion of investment in health protection.

Answering body: Prime Minister

The Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has today published the Inquiry’s Module 3 report, which examined the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the four nations of the UK.

The Chair emphasises “the unbearable stress and distress to patients, their loved ones and the healthcare workers looking after them”. She pays tribute to the extraordinary efforts of all those working in the healthcare systems across the UK. I too recognise the loss and pain people experienced during the pandemic, and the extraordinary efforts of health workers across the four nations. The disruption and effects of Covid-19 on our society were profound, and its effects were particularly felt through the health and social care system.

The Chair has found that the UK entered the pandemic ill-prepared and with highly stretched healthcare systems, and that the impact of the pandemic on the healthcare systems of the UK was devastating. The Chair concludes that the UK needs better pre-pandemic planning. She recommends measures to strengthen national preparedness for future pandemics, with clear accountability for the provision of guidance on infection prevention and control, an ethical framework for resource allocation, improved data systems for risk stratification, and tested plans to rapidly scale hospital and urgent and emergency care capacity. She also recommends measures to protect patients and health workers, including guidance on visiting restrictions, standardised advance care planning, transparent reporting of health worker deaths, better preparation for FFP3 mask fit-testing, and psychological and emotional support for healthcare staff.

This Government is committed to learning the lessons from the Inquiry and ensuring the NHS and the social care sector are prepared for a future pandemic. We will work with our colleagues in the devolved governments as we carefully consider the recommendations in the report. It is clear that the NHS and the social care sector remain under pressure across the UK, and in many cases healthcare services are still recovering from the pandemic. This Government is committed to investment and reform to build a health service in England that is fit for the future and there for people when they need it.

I would like to thank Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on this report. The Government will carefully consider all the findings and recommendations of the report and respond in due course.

I have laid a copy of the report before both Houses of Parliament.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is an independent statutory inquiry. As an independent body, it is responsible for determining its own scope, lines of investigation, and the evidence it seeks. Decisions about whether to include examination of specific scientific or technical matters, such as the evidence base relating to spike proteins or lipid nanoparticles, fall within the inquiry’s discretion.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not received any specific correspondence or instruction from the inquiry relating to spike proteins or lipid nanoparticles.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The Government welcomes the COVID-19 Inquiry’s investigations and is committed to learning lessons from the pandemic, including those relating to the potential impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing. We continue to respond openly and transparently to the inquiry’s requests and reports, and will be paying close attention to the Module 8 report, Children and Young People, and the Module 10 report, Impact on Society, which will cover mental health and wellbeing. Whilst we wait for these reports, the Department is already embedding mental health considerations into pandemic preparedness planning.

In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers published a commentary on the findings of a systematic review on screen-based activities and children’s mental health. They found an association between screen-based activities and mental health but could not establish causality. The commentary can be accessed at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c5b1510e5274a316cee5be8/UK_CMO_commentary_on_screentime_and_social_media_map_of_reviews.pdf

On 2 March 2026, the Government published a consultation on how to ensure children have a healthy relationship with devices, introduce rapid trials on measures to reduce screentime and limit access at night, and produce evidence-informed screentime guidance for parents of children aged five to 16 years old. The consultation can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government. The systematic evidence review on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, commissioned by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to support its investigation into the impact of the pandemic on society, will be published on the Inquiry's website during hearings for Module 10, to be held between 16th February 2026 and 5th March 2026.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The CCLL23A10 contract with Burges Salmon LLP was procured under Public Contract Regulations 2015. The KPI referenced refers to the contract's Social Value KPI. A Social Value KPI was included in the contract as per para 4.6 of the 'Guide to using the Social Value Model'.

As per the ‘Social Value Model’, Social Value KPIs must be informed by the themes and policy outcomes chosen for the procurement. In the case of the procurement of the CCLL23A10 contract with Burges Salmon LLP, the Social Value KPI was informed by theme 3 ‘Fighting Climate Change’ and the ‘Effective stewardship of the environment’ policy outcome. Working in soft copy (where possible) and choosing travel by rail (where the most time efficient method of transportation) were the measurables chosen to encourage minimised environmental impact and demonstrate that the supplier can provide social value under this contract.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost loved ones and those who continue to suffer because of the pandemic.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry was established in 2022 under the Inquiries Act. The Government is fully committed to supporting the work of the Inquiry and to learning lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemic.

Module 2 of the Inquiry investigated matters including decision-making relating to lockdowns. The Inquiry published its report in November last year - the Government will consider the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations carefully before responding in full. Module 4 of the Inquiry is investigating a range of issues relating to the development of Covid-19 vaccines and the implementation of the vaccine rollout programme - the Inquiry is expected to publish its report in April 2026.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is examining the UK’s response to and impact of the pandemic. The government is fully committed to supporting the work of the COVID-19 Inquiry and to learning lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemic.

The government recognises the unprecedented and wholly exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. The Inquiry is therefore unprecedented in its scope, complexity and profile.

The independent UK COVID-19 Inquiry publishes its own running costs quarterly. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work - and she has been clear as to her intention to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I would like to update the House on the costs to the UK Government associated with responding to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.

Figures provided are based upon a selection of the most relevant departments and are not based on a complete set of departmental figures and are not precise figures for accounting purposes. Ensuring a comprehensive and timely response to the Inquiry requires significant input from a number of key government departments, including, but not limited to, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, the Home Office and HM Treasury, many of which are supported by the Government Legal Department. While every effort has been made to ensure a robust methodology, complexities remain in trying to quantify the time and costs dedicated to the Inquiry alone.

It should be noted that alongside full time resource within departments, Inquiry response teams draw on expertise from across their organisations. These costs, including costs associated with staff taking time to provide written or oral evidence, are not included in the costs below.

Breakdown of Staff & Costs

The government’s response to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry is led by Inquiry Response Units across departments. These associated staff costs for Q2 2025/26 are below.

Q2 number of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: 207 Full Time Equivalents

Q2 cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £4,310,000 (including contingent labour costs)

Financial year 2025/26 (Q1 + Q2), total cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £9,314,000 (including contingent labour costs)

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Cumulative Total for 2025/26

Cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff (including contingent labour costs)

£5,004,000

£4,310,000

£9,314,000

Number of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff (Full Time Equivalents)

248

207

N/A

</tbody>

Total Inquiry Response Unit Legal Costs

Inquiry Response Units across government departments are supported by the Government Legal Department, co-partnering firms of solicitors, and legal counsel. These associated legal costs (excluding internal departmental advisory legal costs) for Q2 2025/26 are below.

Q2 legal costs: £6,186,000

Financial year 2025/26 (Q1 + Q2), total legal costs: £11,380,000

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Cumulative Total for 2025/26

Total legal costs

£5,194,000

£6,186,000

£11,380,000

</tbody>

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, along all routes of transmission, rather than relying on plans for specific threats.

The Government is committed to learning the lessons from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future. On 16 January 2025, the Government published its response to the inquiry’s module one report on resilience and preparedness. The Department has committed, as part of this response, to publishing a new pandemic preparedness strategy that will show how we are embedding our new approach to pandemic preparedness. The response is published online and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-response-to-the-covid-19-inquiry-module-1-report/uk-government-response-to-the-covid-19-inquiry-module-1-report-html

In Autumn 2025, the Department and the UK Health Security Agency conducted Exercise PEGASUS, a national exercise on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic, which concluded live participation on 5 November. It aimed to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the UK, as well as thousands of participants. The exercise has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform our strategy and planning.

Exercises like this are an essential and valuable tool to test our preparedness, capabilities, and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic. Future domestic and international exercises to test our preparedness and defences to biological threats, including pandemics, should factor in findings and lessons from a variety of sources to inform their design. This was an important part of the design of Exercise PEGASUS, the tier one pandemic preparedness exercise, where a variety of lessons, including from previous pandemic exercises such as Exercise CYGNUS, as well as recommendations from the COVID-19 Inquiry, were factored into the exercise’s design and planning.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The Government welcomes the inquiry’s investigations, including the recent Module 2 report. The Government thanks Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider the findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course. The Government remains committed to learning the lessons needed from the COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future.

The Government will also provide regular progress updates on commitments made following reports. The first progress update, on the Inquiry’s Module 1 report on resilience and preparedness, was published 8 July 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-response-to-the-covid-19-inquiry-module-1-report/uk-government-uk-covid-19-inquiry-response-module-1-implementation-update

It included an update on the Department’s commitments, such as the intention to publish a health and care pandemic preparedness strategy. The next update is scheduled for January 2026.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Trained observers and evaluators participated throughout Exercise PEGASUS, the largest simulation of a pandemic in United Kingdom history. These observers and evaluators provided an external view on the decisions and actions taken by participants, supported by other evaluation methods, including focus groups to ‘red team’ or challenge participant decisions, surveys, and structured ‘debriefs’ with participants themselves.

The Department aims to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, along all routes of transmission rather than relying on plans for specific threats.

Our health and care sector plans and our overall pandemic preparedness approach will continue to evolve in response to new scientific and clinical advice, as well as lessons learned, including learning from the UK COVID-19 Inquiry and Exercise PEGASUS. Exercise PEGASUS used a variety of mechanisms to provide challenges to current arrangements for pandemic response. Exercise PEGASUS has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform the pandemic preparedness strategy and response plans.

Answering body: Prime Minister

The Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has today published the Inquiry’s Module 2, 2A, 2B, 2C report, which examined core UK decision-making and political governance.

The Chair recognises the appalling loss of life and devastating socio-economic consequences as a result of the pandemic. I would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the pain and suffering the pandemic caused.

However, the Chair has also concluded that the Government’s pandemic response was repeatedly "too little, too late", and that lessons were not learnt and mistakes repeated - exacerbating the impact of the pandemic. The Chair has found that the Government fell short, with advice lacking proper economic and social modelling, the impact on vulnerable people not sufficiently considered, and the culture in the centre of government described as “toxic”.

The Chair has noted that decisions were being taken in the context of the UK being ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic. Since then, improvements have been made to the way the Government would respond to a major crisis. That said, it is clear that local government and our public services, including the NHS, are under immense pressure and in many cases have not fully recovered from the pandemic. The cost of the pandemic still weighs heavily on the public purse. This is why this Government is committed to driving growth in the economy and reform of public services, so that when we face the next crisis, we do so from a position of national resilience.

I would like to thank Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on this report. The Government will carefully consider all of the findings and recommendations of the report and respond in due course.

I have laid a copy of the report before both Houses of Parliament.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The national pandemic preparedness exercise, Exercise PEGASUS, which focused on the emergence, containment, and mitigation phases of a pandemic, concluded live participation on 5 November 2025. Evaluation of these three phases is underway, and a fourth phase, focussed on recovery, is planned to be exercised in 2026. The Government has committed to communicating the findings and lessons of the exercise as recommended by the COVID-19 inquiry and a post-exercise report will be delivered in due course.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Government is committed to improving pandemic preparedness. As the response to Module One of the Covid-19 inquiry made clear, the Cabinet Office is playing a greater role in preparedness for cross-cutting catastrophic risks.

Our preparedness for future pandemics has been stepped up through Exercise Pegasus, the largest ever national pandemic response exercise. The exercise will test national to local coordination arrangements, and lessons from the exercise will help strengthen pandemic preparedness at national and local levels.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The cumulative total spend of the Covid-19 Inquiry up to 30 June 2025 has been published in the latest financial report on their website. The next report is due in November.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

I am today confirming that, on the 18th of September, Exercise PEGASUS, the National ‘Tier 1’ pandemic preparedness exercise set to assess the UK’s ability to respond to a pandemic, will commence.

A pandemic remains the top risk of the UK’s National Risk Register, and experts are clear that it is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ the UK will experience another pandemic. We cannot be prepared if we do not actively look for opportunities to test the country’s capabilities, plans, protocols and procedures in the event of another major pandemic. Exercise PEGASUS is a prime opportunity to do just that.

Exercise PEGASUS will be the largest ever simulation of a pandemic in UK history and will involve participation from every Government Department, the Devolved Governments and representation from Arms-Length Bodies and Local Resilience Fora.

The exercise is due to take place from September to November 2025, led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and delivered with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). ‘Core’ exercise days have been confirmed for 18 September, 9 October and 30 October, simulating the first phases of a pandemic: emergence, containment, and mitigation. A fourth phase (recovery) is also planned for 2026. The UK Government has committed to communicating the findings and lessons of the Exercise as recommended by the Covid-19 Inquiry and a post-Exercise report will be delivered in due course.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted each and every person in the UK. The work of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry is crucial in examining the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are evidently lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and the government is committed to closely considering the Covid-19 Inquiry’s findings and recommendations, which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future.

The Government recognises the unprecedented and wholly exceptional circumstances of the pandemic, and the importance of examining as rigorously as possible the actions the state took in response, in order to learn lessons for the future. The Inquiry is therefore unprecedented in its scope, complexity and profile, looking at recent events that have profoundly impacted everyone’s lives.

The independent UK COVID-19 Inquiry publishes its own running costs quarterly. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work - and she has been clear as to her intention to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I would like to update the House on the costs to the UK Government associated with responding to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.

Figures provided are based upon a selection of the most relevant departments and are not based on a complete set of departmental figures and are not precise for accounting purposes. Ensuring a comprehensive and timely response to the Inquiry requires significant input from a number of key government departments, including, but not limited to, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, the Home Office and HM Treasury, many of which are supported by the Government Legal Department. While every effort has been made to ensure a robust methodology, complexities remain in trying to quantify the time and costs dedicated to the Inquiry alone.

It should be noted that alongside full time resource within departments, Inquiry response teams draw on expertise from across their organisations. The staff costs associated with appearing as witnesses, preparing witnesses and associated policy development work on the UK Covid Inquiry are not included in the costs below.

Breakdown of Staff & Costs

The government’s response to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry is led by Inquiry Response Units across departments. These associated staff costs for Q1 2025/26 are below.

Q1 number of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: 248 Full Time Equivalents

Q1 cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £5,004,000 (including contingent labour costs)

Total Inquiry Response Unit Legal Costs

Inquiry Response Units across government departments are supported by the Government Legal Department, co-partnering firms of solicitors, and legal counsel. These associated legal costs (excluding internal departmental advisory legal costs) for Q1 2025/26 are below.

Q1 legal costs: £5,194,000

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of the Government, and its timing, process and focus are all matters for the Chair, Baroness Heather Hallett. This includes the submission and representation of evidence.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The COVID-19 Inquiry is independent of the Government, and its timing, process, and focus are all matters for the Chair, Baroness Heather Hallett. This includes the disclosure of documents submitted to the Inquiry.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Government responded in full to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on 16 January 2025 and committed to providing regular updates on implementation of the commitments made in the response. The most recent update was published on 8 July, alongside a suite of key publications which demonstrate this government’s determination to build the UK’s resilience and pandemic preparedness for the future.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Today I have updated the House on the publication of the UK Government’s Resilience Action Plan, this government’s strategic approach to resilience. It is the outcome of the resilience review which I announced to the House in July last year.

Alongside this, we have also published our Chronic Risks Analysis, UK Biological Security Strategy Implementation Report and an update on the implementation of the commitments made in the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 government response.