Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

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. The evaluation of Exercise PEGASUS is ongoing and once complete, recommendations will be generated. The implementation and appropriate governance of these recommendations and findings is being actively considered as part of the United Kingdom’s commitment to pandemic preparedness. Exercise PEGASUS has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform the pandemic preparedness strategy and response plans.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

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. The evaluation of Exercise PEGASUS is ongoing and once complete, recommendations will be generated. The implementation and appropriate governance of these recommendations and findings is being actively considered as part of the United Kingdom’s commitment to pandemic preparedness. Exercise PEGASUS has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform the pandemic preparedness strategy and response plans.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Government remains committed to learning the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and to better prepare the country for future pandemics.

The Government will consider the findings and recommendations in the Module 2 report in detail and respond in due course.

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: Leader of the House of Lords

My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has made the following statement:

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: 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: Department of Health and Social Care

My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention (Ashley Dalton MP) has made the following statement:

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: Cabinet Office

My Right Honourable friend, the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, has today made the following statement:

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.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

My Right Honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon. Pat McFadden MP, has today made the following statement:

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.

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 Q4 are below, and include retrospective adjustments for Q1-3.

Q4 number of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: 286 Full Time Equivalents

Q4 cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £5,575,000 (including contingent

labour costs)

Financial year 2024/25 (Q1-4), total cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £21,591,000 (including contingent labour costs, and retrospective adjustments from Q1-3)

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Quarter 3

Quarter 4

Cumulative Total

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

£5,051,000

£5,292,000

£5,674,000

£5,575,000

£21,591,000

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

280

284

287

286

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 Q4 are below, and include retrospective adjustments for Q1-3.

Q4 legal costs: £7,947,000

Financial year 2024/25 (Q1-4), total legal costs: £24,954,000 (including retrospective adjustments from Q1-3)

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Quarter 3

Quarter 4

Cumulative Total

Total legal costs

£4,956,000

£5,888,000

£6,162,000

£7,947,000

£24,954,000

</tbody>

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office uses zero hours contracts to selectively manage temporary demand. The Cabinet Office Pillars that the 423 contingent labour workers who can be classed as having zero hours contracts are as follows:

National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) – formerly known as the Infrastructure and Projects Authority – 255. Following a recent Machinery of Government change, NISTA is now part of HM Treasury, and these workers will be transferred over to HM Treasury over the summer of 2025. Workers are engaged in this area to assist with external Gateway Reviews, where expert advice is required to review programmes and projects. These external gateway reviewers are only engaged under these contracts when there is no availability within the pool of civil servant gateway reviewers.

Productive and Agile State – 155. Workers are engaged in this area to bring in commercial expertise to help run the GCF Assessment Development Centres, to assess Civil Servants’ commercial abilities for both contract management and wider commercial skills.

Propriety and Constitution – 13. Workers engaged under this Pillar are for the Covid-19 Inquiry, which engages expert witnesses whose services are only required on an ad hoc basis.

Contingent labour contracts should only be used in government where better value alternatives are not available. The Government is continuing to take steps to reduce the use of contingent labour.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

My Right Honourable friend the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, has today made the following statement:

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 Q4 are below, and include retrospective adjustments for Q1-3.

Q4 number of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: 286 Full Time Equivalents

Q4 cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £5,575,000 (including contingent

labour costs)

Financial year 2024/25 (Q1-4), total cost of UK COVID-19 Inquiry Response Unit staff: £21,591,000 (including contingent labour costs, and retrospective adjustments from Q1-3)

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Quarter 3

Quarter 4

Cumulative Total

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

£5,051,000

£5,292,000

£5,674,000

£5,575,000

£21,591,000

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

280

284

287

286

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 Q4 are below, and include retrospective adjustments for Q1-3.

Q4 legal costs: £7,947,000

Financial year 2024/25 (Q1-4), total legal costs: £24,954,000 (including retrospective adjustments from Q1-3)

<tbody>

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Quarter 3

Quarter 4

Cumulative Total

Total legal costs

£4,956,000

£5,888,000

£6,162,000

£7,947,000

£24,954,000

</tbody>