Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for government on risk

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 26 Nov 2021 Closed: 27 May 2022 Parliament page
In July 2020 the PAC made its first report on the UK Government’s broad, initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying there had been an “astonishing” failure to plan appropriately especially in relation to the national economy , where it was revealed in evidence to the Committee that there had … Read more
7 Recommendations
15 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
27 May
2022
Report published
23 Mar
2022
Report published
31 Jan
2022
Correspondence
31 Jan
2022
Correspondence
12 Jan
2022
Oral evidence
12 Jan
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
12 Jan 2022
View on parliament.uk
Government preparedness for the COVID:19 Pandemic: Lessons for government on risk
Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office Clara Swinson · Department for Health and Social Care Roger Hargreaves · Cabinet Office Sir Chris Wormald · Department of Health and Social Care
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Sixth Report Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pand… HC 952 23 Mar 2022 22 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
22 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The pandemic has demonstrated variability in departments’ risk management.
The pandemic has demonstrated variability in departments’ risk management. A recent cross-government review of risk management by the Government Internal Audit Agency highlighted significant variability across departments, including the 6 Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on … Read more
Government Response
The government is developing a training programme for risk professionals and non-experts to improve understanding of the Orange Book, and the NSRA and NRPAs are shared to ensure understanding of risks, while risk management remains the responsibility of departments.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
There would be significant benefits in improving the public’s awareness of the main risks facing...
There would be significant benefits in improving the public’s awareness of the main risks facing the country and what government is doing about them. The public and Parliament have limited awareness of the main risks facing the country and of … Read more
Government Response
The government will increase public awareness of the main risks facing the UK and report annually to Parliament on actions taken to mitigate risks, and changes made as a result of consultations, through the forthcoming Resilience Strategy and building on the National Risk Register.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of international collaboration for managing the risks that...
The pandemic has highlighted the critical role of international collaboration for managing the risks that the UK faces. Given the increasingly interconnected nature of our world, several of the main risks facing the UK may originate abroad and, if they … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation and is working to build on the UK’s existing international collaborations, securing commitments on critical global health risks and supporting the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI).
HM Treasury
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
Government would have been better prepared for COVID-19 if it had applied learning from previous...
Government would have been better prepared for COVID-19 if it had applied learning from previous incidents and exercises. Government was unprepared for a pandemic with widespread asymptomatic transmission, but this was not unprecedented. The early spread of HIV, too, was … Read more
Government Response
The government has done extensive work to model a range of scenarios to better understand the levels of ‘bounce-back’ demand.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
Government’s slow progress in improving data quality and completeness has hampered its preparedness for this...
Government’s slow progress in improving data quality and completeness has hampered its preparedness for this and future pandemics. We have repeatedly highlighted longstanding issues with the quality of data held by government and with its ability to use data effectively … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the National Situation Centre (SitCen) will use the National Strategic Risk Assessment (NSRA) framework for prioritizing data and that access to social care data collected to monitor COVID-19 will continue as long as these data collections remain in place, with SitCen gaining access to relevant monitoring data if needed in the future.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health & Social Care (the Department) on the government’s preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.1
Government Response
The government provides an introduction from the Committee on the scale and nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
HM Treasury
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7 Conclusion
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The three lines of defence model of risk management, widely used in the private sector,...
The three lines of defence model of risk management, widely used in the private sector, sets out what the Orange Book characterises as a “simple and effective way to help delegate and coordinate risk management roles and responsibilities within and … Read more
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8 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The NAO found that, before the pandemic, departments lacked an agreed understanding of risk tolerance,...
The NAO found that, before the pandemic, departments lacked an agreed understanding of risk tolerance, such as which consequences of a pandemic they deemed acceptable and which consequences they needed to mitigate. The Cabinet Office agreed that government reached a … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) and National Resilience Planning Assumptions (NRPAs) are shared with departments to ensure a shared understanding of risks and response requirements, and that departments are responsible for managing resilience risks.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The National Security Risk Assessment, which sets out government’s assessment of the main risks facing...
The National Security Risk Assessment, which sets out government’s assessment of the main risks facing the UK and its interests overseas, is classified. Government has published a summary of this assessment and of the mitigations it has put in place … Read more
Government Response
The government will build on the National Risk Register to better communicate risk to the public through enhanced Parliamentary reporting/debate and improved public access to risk information, as part of the forthcoming Resilience Strategy.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
It was reported in September 2021 that the Health and Safety Executive had been notified...
It was reported in September 2021 that the Health and Safety Executive had been notified of 103 instances of serious laboratory leaks, including nine in the most secure level-4 laboratories.15 Lack of transparency to the public about these leaks has … Read more
Government Response
The government will address laboratory safety and security as part of the forthcoming Biological Security Strategy.
HM Treasury
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11 Recommendation Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
We raised the question of whether individual members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies...
We raised the question of whether individual members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) should be allowed to make public statements that are inconsistent with the collective messaging of the Group. When asked if refraining from making such … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider whether to include guidance on external communications in the terms of reference for expert advisory groups.
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12 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The Cabinet Office acknowledged the need for international co-operation to assess threats, manage risks and...
The Cabinet Office acknowledged the need for international co-operation to assess threats, manage risks and share information. As examples of the UK’s engagement, they mentioned work carried out with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to Ebola; the Carbis … Read more
Government Response
The government is working to build on the UK’s existing international collaborations, plays an active role in multilateral fora, and continues to promote rapid intelligence sharing.
HM Treasury
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13 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The Cabinet Office recognised that the UK needs to further strengthen international cooperation and noted...
The Cabinet Office recognised that the UK needs to further strengthen international cooperation and noted that this will be a central feature of the UK resilience strategy. The Department stated that the UK is seeking a new pandemic treaty through … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to build on existing international collaborations, plays an active role in multilateral fora and with bilateral partners, and secured commitments on critical global health risks during the UK’s 2021 G7 Presidency.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
Alongside greater international cooperation, the Cabinet Office noted the need to strengthen domestic collaboration on...
Alongside greater international cooperation, the Cabinet Office noted the need to strengthen domestic collaboration on risks, especially with the private sector. The Cabinet Office stated that government is considering requiring regulated companies and those that have significant dealings with government … Read more
Government Response
Government will consider strengthening domestic collaboration on risks in the development of the Resilience Strategy.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support...
Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support to local authorities, identifying a large population advised to shield, and economic support schemes.23 A submission we received from an academic research group studying the … Read more
Government Response
The government recognizes that it lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19 and will draw on the lessons learned to strengthen future planning, including considering how to ensure that government can reinstate economic support schemes at short notice without implementation issues.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The Cabinet Office attributed the absence of detailed planning for a pandemic like COVID-19 to...
The Cabinet Office attributed the absence of detailed planning for a pandemic like COVID-19 to the fact that they did not anticipate a disease with asymptomatic transmission which required an extended lockdown.26 Yet, a large-scale infection with widespread asymptomatic transmission … Read more
Government Response
The government recognizes that it did not anticipate a disease with asymptomatic transmission which required an extended lockdown and will draw on lessons learned to strengthen future planning.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
While government took action following major pandemic simulation exercises such as Cygnus and Winter Willow,...
While government took action following major pandemic simulation exercises such as Cygnus and Winter Willow, it did not act upon some of the warnings about the UK’s lack of preparedness from these simulations. For instance, at the outset of the … Read more
Government Response
The government states that there are existing structures, platforms, and processes to capture and share lessons identified from exercises and operations, notably, the Joint Organisational Learning (JOL) system.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency...
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation. Yet, a submission that we received from academics working on lessons from loans to support businesses through Coronavirus noted that it … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation and will draw on the lessons learned from the pandemic response to strengthen future planning.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
We have repeatedly highlighted longstanding issues with the quality of data held by government and...
We have repeatedly highlighted longstanding issues with the quality of data held by government and with its ability to use data effectively to support policy interventions. Our 2019 report Challenges in using data across government noted the lack of government-wide … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the Committee's recommendation and plans to set out its assessment of the areas in which the data collected by the National Situation Centre are in greatest need of improvement and what it plans to do to implement those improvements. The government should set out how it plans to retain access to the social care data required to respond to future pandemics.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
Insufficient progress made on data issues over the years has hindered government’s initial pandemic response.
Insufficient progress made on data issues over the years has hindered government’s initial pandemic response. For instance, local government initially lacked access to information from NHS Test and Trace that they needed to deliver their local pandemic response.34 A submission … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the National Situation Centre (SitCen) will use the National Strategic Risk Assessment (NSRA) framework for prioritizing data and that access to social care data collected to monitor COVID-19 will continue as long as these data collections remain in place, with SitCen gaining access to relevant monitoring data if needed in the future.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The Cabinet Office noted that, in 2021, government set up a National Situation Centre which...
The Cabinet Office noted that, in 2021, government set up a National Situation Centre which will provide real-time access to data government needs to respond to the emergencies set out in the National Security Risk Assessment. The Cabinet Office hopes … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the National Situation Centre (SitCen) will use the National Strategic Risk Assessment (NSRA) framework for prioritizing data and that access to social care data collected to monitor COVID-19 will continue as long as these data collections remain in place, with SitCen gaining access to relevant monitoring data if needed in the future.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Sixth Report Government prep…
The Department stated that, while government’s access to data from the social care system has...
The Department stated that, while government’s access to data from the social care system has greatly improved during the pandemic, it is likely that this access will be somewhat scaled down as the emergency subsides. It told us that this … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the National Situation Centre (SitCen) will use the National Strategic Risk Assessment (NSRA) framework for prioritizing data and that access to social care data collected to monitor COVID-19 will continue as long as these data collections remain in place, with SitCen gaining access to relevant monitoring data if needed in the future.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 21 of 7 classified
Accepted 13
Acknowledged 7
Not Addressed 1
Total 7 recs + 15 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
31 Jan 2022 Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care, re Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic Lessons for government on risk, dated 27 January 2022
Parliament page
31 Jan 2022 Joint correspondence from Sir Patrick Vallance, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser National Technology Adviser, Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession and Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and Social Care, re Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic Lessons for government on risk, dated 27 January 2022
Parliament page