6: PAC conclusion: Government’s slow progress in improving data quality and completeness has hampered its preparedness for this and future pandemics. 6: PAC recommendation: The Cabinet Office should 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. As part of this response, government should set out how it plans to retain access to the social care data required to respond to future pandemics. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2022 6.2 The newly established National Situation Centre (SitCen) became operational on 30 September 2021 bringing together data and expertise from across government, and externally where appropriate. The National Strategic Risk Assessment (NSRA) is the framework which SitCen uses for identifying, acquiring and prioritising data. The 2022 NSRA refresh is the first to take place since SitCen’s establishment. It will be used to broaden and deepen the government's crisis-related data holdings and analytical expertise. 6.3 Strengthening government’s crisis-related data holdings is a standing, permanent objective for SitCen. SitCen has made significant progress since its operational launch, and that trend should continue. Its officials will work with their counterparts in risk-owning departments to ensure data, analysis and expertise required for crisis response is strengthened across government as a whole. This will include data required to respond to future pandemics. 6.4 SitCen has established relationships with data, analytical and topic experts in DHSC, the UK Health Security Agency and the Office for National Statistics to provide insight across a range of health and social care risks and impacts, including those from future pandemics. It is expected that access to the social care data which was collected to monitor COVID-19 impacts will continue for as long as these data collections remain in place. The SitCen will be given access to relevant monitoring data if future circumstances require.