Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is independent of the Government. The process, procedure and timing of the Inquiry are matters for the Chair, Baroness Hallett.

On 16th January 2023 the Chair designated the group Clinically Vulnerable Families as a Core Participant for Module 3 of the Inquiry which covers healthcare systems in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for the Inquiry itself to provide any further detail on the important issue of how the needs of the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable will be addressed.

The Government is committed to learning from the Covid-19 Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing planning and preparations for the future; it continues to work closely with the Inquiry.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

We do not yet have a figure for the costs incurred. We brought this judicial review to seek clarification on a point of law and we are pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider.

It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

We do not yet have a figure for the costs incurred. We brought this judicial review to seek clarification on a point of law and we are pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider.

It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Government is fully committed to constructive engagement with the Covid-19 Inquiry and has been since its establishment.

Government officials and lawyers meet with the Inquiry on a regular basis, both as part of a regular series of meetings and on an ad hoc basis to discuss specific issues. We have disclosed over 55,000 documents to the Inquiry to date.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The United Kingdom has flexible and well-tested pandemic response capabilities. Learning the lessons from COVID-19, we are working with the Centre for Pandemic Preparedness in the UK Health Security Agency to ensure a flexible and capabilities-based approach to pandemic preparedness which will see emergency planners develop and maintain a generic suite of response capabilities across Government. This will enable an approach that can be flexibly deployed to meet the demands of any future pandemic and provide a whole-system response.

We cannot perfectly predict the characteristics of a new pandemic pathogen and therefore our strategic approach to pandemic preparedness constantly evolves in response to new scientific information, lessons learned from prior pandemics, responses to other infectious disease outbreaks and rigorous exercises to test our response mechanisms.

Public hearings for Module 1 of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry commenced on 13 June 2023 and will run for six weeks. The Department acknowledges there are valuable lessons to be learnt from COVID-19 to inform our preparedness for future pandemics.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Under the Inquiries Act 2005, the process, timing and procedure of the Inquiry are decisions for the Inquiry’s independent Chair, Baroness Hallett. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work and she has been clear that she intends to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

The Department is building on the valuable lessons to be learnt from COVID-19 to inform our preparedness for future pandemics and will review the lessons learnt reports from other countries with interest and ensure any relevant lessons are factored into o...

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Government departments and the devolved administrations, including Northern Ireland, are individual core participants to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, so departments are not able to provide support to them in responding to the Inquiry.

Government departments and devolved administrations make their own decision on whether to apply for core participant status.

A core participant is an individual or organisation that has a specific interest in the work of the Inquiry with a formal role as defined by the Inquiry Rules 2006. Core participants have special benefits in the Inquiry process, including early sight of evidence and the ability to make opening and closing statements and present their position to the Inquiry.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The government’s work on the Inquiry requires legal support which departments will procure at their own discretion from approved internal and external sources. The Judicial Review is ongoing, and as such the Cabinet Office does not yet have an estimate of the cost of the judicial review in this case.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office does not ordinarily publish correspondence for ongoing legal matters.

Answering body: Ministry of Justice

The UK Government Inquiries established in each year since 2017 are set out below. These include both non-statutory Inquiries and those established under the Inquiries Act 2005. They do not include Inquiries established by the Northern Ireland Executive or the Scottish Government.

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2017

Elizabeth Dixon Investigation; Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry; Infected Blood Inquiry; Independent Inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and its subsequent termination

2018

Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review; Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by Ian Paterson

2019

Brook House Inquiry; Manchester Arena Inquiry

2020

Jermaine Baker Inquiry; Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry

2021

Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry

2022

Angiolini Inquiry; Dawn Sturgess Inquiry; Fuller Inquiry; UK Covid-19 Inquiry; Independent Inquiry into alleged unlawful activity by British Armed Forces during deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan

2023 to date

Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing

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Answering body: Treasury

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the UK economy. Between 2019 Q4 and 2020 Q2, according to the Office for National Statistics the economy contracted by 23% - the steepest recession on record.

The success of the UK’s vaccination campaign lead to a strong recovery in GDP, with annual growth of 7.5% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022. In both these years, GDP growth in the UK was the fastest in the G7.

The Government acted quickly to prevent catastrophic increases in unemployment during the pandemic. The Government provided up to £400 billion of direct support for the economy which helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.

The Treasury is engaging constructively with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which plans to examine the Government’s responses to the pandemic.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Covid-19 inquiry's terms of reference require it to consider any disparities evident in the impact of the pandemic on different protected characteristics including (a) ethnicity, (b) disability and (c) sex, and to listen to the experiences of those most affected by the pandemic. The inquiry’s process and procedure for fulfilling its terms of reference are a matter for its independent chair.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office, as sponsor department, has supported the Covid Inquiry with its practical set up. Under the Inquiries Act, the process, procedure and timing of the inquiry’s stages are matters for the independent inquiry Chair. Progress is well underway and details relating to the Inquiry’s planned and current work are available on the Covid-19 Inquiry’s website.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Inquiry is specifically required to consider any disparities evident in the impact of the pandemic on different categories of people. This includes, but is not limited to, those relating to protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and equality categories under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Under the Inquiries Act 2005, decisions regarding the conduct of the Inquiry are for the Independent Chair.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Appointments to an inquiry panel are made in accordance with the statutory provisions of the Inquiries Act 2005 and in consultation with the chair. Any representations on the composition of the panel will be duly considered by the Government. Moreover, the inquiry’s terms of reference require it to “listen to and consider carefully the experiences of bereaved families and others who have suffered hardship or loss as a result of the pandemic".

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Inquiry’s timescales, process and procedure are all matters for its independent Chair, who is under a statutory duty to avoid unnecessary cost in the conduct of the Inquiry. The Inquiry will publish details of its expenditure on its website in due course.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

There are 27 full time employees in one business unit currently working on the Government’s response to the Covid-19 Inquiry. There are no other business units in the Cabinet Office that are dedicated to COVID-19. Roles are not recorded at an individual level.

Answering body: Department for Transport

As of the 15th November 2022 there are 19 members of staff undertaking work on matters directly relating to Covid-19 where this work constitutes the majority of their working time. These staff members are primarily in DfT’s Covid-19 Inquiry Response Division. Their work will include input and support from relevant functions and modal teams as necessary.

Answering body: Home Office

The Home Office no longer actively monitor staff deployment for Covid-19, the number of staff members where their role is wholly or in part related to Covid-19 can only be retrieved by disproportionate effort.

However, the Department’s response to the Covid-19 Inquiry has a total of 7 (6.6FTE) employees.

Answering body: Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice does not hold centrally a figure for how many employees in the department work on matters related to COVID-19. However, I can confirm that there are currently 12.7 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees working on the department’s response to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.

There is also a network of Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across the department. They assist with the preparation for the response to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry alongside other roles and responsibilities.

Answering body: Department of Health and Social Care

Since March 2020, the Government has allocated more than £10.2 million to mental health charities, including bereavement support charities, to support adults and children experiencing poor mental health due to the impact of COVID-19. The Government continues to assess the provision of services to support bereaved families, friends and loved ones.

The impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the bereaved, including post-bereavement support will be assessed during the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 Inquiry.

Through the Health and Care Act 2022, NHS England have developed guidance to support integrated care boards with the duty to commission palliative care services within integrated care systems. This guidance states commissioners should ensure there is sufficient access to bereavement services.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Covid-19 Inquiry will play a key role in learning lessons from the pandemic. The final Terms of Reference for the Inquiry were published in June. The Prime Minister accepted all of Baroness Hallett’s recommendations.

The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We will meet our obligations to the Inquiry in full.

The Government is committed to working with the Inquiry to ensure that Baroness Hallett is able to conduct a thorough investigation into the preparations for and the response to the pandemic.

Answering body: Attorney General

By convention, whether the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.

This convention protects the Law Officers’ ability as chief legal advisers to the Government to give full and frank legal advice and provides the fullest guarantee that government business will be conducted at all times in light of thorough and candid legal advice.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Covid-19 Inquiry will play a key role in learning lessons from the pandemic. The final Terms of Reference for the Inquiry were published in June. The Prime Minister accepted all of Baroness Hallett’s recommendations.

The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We will meet our obligations to the Inquiry in full.

The Government is committed to working with the Inquiry to ensure that Baroness Hallett is able to conduct a thorough investigation into the preparations for and the response to the pandemic.