Civil Contingencies Act Review
COVID-19 Inquiry · Module 2: Core Decision-Making · Issued 20 November 2025 · Addressed to: Cabinet Office
Government responseUK Government: Accepted (Mar 2026)
DeliveryCabinet Office says in progress (Sep 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The UK government should undertake a review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to assess its potential role in managing future civil emergencies, including pandemics, and whether it could be employed as an interim emergency framework until more specific legislation with appropriate parliamentary safeguards is passed.
The review should:
examine the conditions under which the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 may be invoked in a public health emergency;
consider any adjustments to the Act’s safeguards, such as the triple lock test or time limits, that would make it more adaptable to pandemics; and
produce clear guidance on the Act’s application for use in civil emergencies, including pandemics, to support its use as an emergency measure in advance of specific legislation – such as a dedicated pandemic bill – being passed.
COVID-19 Inquiry, Module 2: Core Decision-Making · 20 Nov 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended reviewing the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to assess its role in pandemics. In September 2026, Dan Jarvis, answering for the Cabinet Office, stated that a review assessing changes to the legislation and guidance was underway and due before Parliament by March 2027 (Dan Jarvis, Sep 2026). The department had launched a call for views in July 2026 seeking evidence on safeguards for using emergency powers in pandemics (Cabinet Office, Jul 2026). The UK Government accepted the recommendation in March 2026, agreeing to review emergency powers, safeguards, and guidance in collaboration with devolved administrations (Cabinet Office response, Mar 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 12 Oct 2026.
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted · 25 Mar 2026
The government agrees with the Inquiry that the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 should be reviewed to ensure that it continues to provide an appropriate legislative framework for the UK’s preparedness to future emergencies.
Under Regulation 59 of the CCA 2004 (Contingency Planning) Regulations 2005, the government has a legal obligation to review the Regulations every five years with the next Post Implementation Review due to be laid in Parliament by March 2027. For this Post Implementation Review 2027, the government will take the opportunity to review the Act to ensure it continues to deliver its objectives and to make recommendations to strengthen the fulfilment of the Act’s objectives and to support the UK’s resilience to an increasingly volatile global risk picture.
As part of this review, the government will explore the areas set out by the Inquiry in relation to the applicability of Part 2 of the CCA 2004 (emergency powers) in regards to pandemics and other whole-of-system crises. This will include considering whether any adjustments should be made to the robust safeguards associated with the use of emergency powers. To ensure the Review considers the whole picture of UK resilience, we will work with devolved governments and stakeholders across the resilience system. Based on the findings of this review, the government will ensure that existing guidance on Part 2 powers is reviewed to increase the understanding of how emergency powers could be applied in major emergencies.
Extract from: UK Government Response to the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 Report
Delivery
●Cabinet Office says in progress · 29 Sep 2026
We are currently undertaking a Post-Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which is required to be presented to Parliament by March 2027. Through this review we will assess whether the Act is delivering its objectives and consider any changes to the legislation or accompanying guidance, which are required to strengthen the Act. A Call for Views was launched on 14 July 2026 to gather evidence from across the resilience community to inform the review's conclusions.
Earlier statements on delivery (0)
●Cabinet Office · 14 Jul 2026
As part of this review, the Inquiry has recommended that the UK government consider the appropriate safeguards for using Part 2 powers for managing the response to Pandemics.
This sub-section seeks to gather evidence to inform the government’s response to this recommendation, as well as the wider operation of Part 2 of the CCA 2004.
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.