To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a) the COVID-19 Pandemic and b) social media on the mental wellbeing of children; and what steps his Department is taking to help
Department of Health and Social Care
The Government welcomes the COVID-19 Inquiry’s investigations and is committed to learning lessons from the pandemic, including those relating to the potential impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing. We continue to respond openly and transparent...
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Crown Commercial Service contractfinder entry, Provision of a Systematic evidence review on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, published March 2025, Procurement reference: CCZZ24A16, awa
Cabinet Office
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government. The systematic evidence review on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, commissioned by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to support its investigation into the impact of the pandemic on society, will be p...
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, for what reason (a) using soft copy and (b) trav
Cabinet Office
The CCLL23A10 contract with Burges Salmon LLP was procured under Public Contract Regulations 2015. The KPI referenced refers to the contract's Social Value KPI. A Social Value KPI was included in the contract as per para 4.6 of the 'Guide to using the Soc...
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Cabinet Office
Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost loved ones and those who continue to suffer because of the pandemic. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry was established in 2022 under the Inquiries Act. The Government is fully committed to supporting the work of ...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the findings and recommendations of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry are incorporated into future pandemic planning and preparedness exercises.
Department of Health and Social Care
Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities tha...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the reports by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Department of Health and Social Care
The Government welcomes the inquiry’s investigations, including the recent Module 2 report. The Government thanks Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider the findings and recommendations in detail an...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Recommendations 6 and 7 of Module 1 of the UK Covid 19 Inquiry, what steps he is taking to (1) gather and (2) publish findings, lessons and recommendations within the recommended
Department of Health and Social Care
Live participation in Exercise PEGASUS has now concluded, although a fourth phase, centred around recovery, is planned to be exercised in 2026. A published post-exercise report will include learning and findings from this and all preceding phases and this...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the UK Resilience Academy's Exercising Best Practice Guidance, whether external expert observers and evaluators have been involved in Exercise Pegasus; and what steps he is taking
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, support...
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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 ph...
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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 futur...
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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.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure that evidence submitted to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry from (a) bereaved families and (b) their legal representative is represented in (i) published mat
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.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will release all bereavement case studies submitted to Module 4 of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry in a timely manner.
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.
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will publish (a) a timeline for the completion of the implementation of UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 recommendations and (b) target dates for actions in progress.
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, alongsid...
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 46749 on Cabinet Office: Zero Hours Contracts, which business units the 423 staff work for.
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 Tr...
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled UK Covid-19 Inquiry Management Statement, published in August 2022, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the Covid-19 public inquiry represents valu
Cabinet Office
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is an independent public inquiry, established by the previous administration.In line with the UK Covid-19 Management Statement, the Inquiry’s Accounting Officer must conform to value for money and good financial management requirem...
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Department of Health and Social Care
Ensuring that the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in our approach to pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable cap...
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Cabinet Office
It is important that lessons are learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government and it is right that we allow the Chair to continue her important work. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary...
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure the transparency of all spending related to the Government's response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Cabinet Office
The Government regularly publishes the cost to government in responding to the Inquiry. Most recently, costs for Quarter 3 2024/25 were published on 3 March 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the UK's biosecurity resilience against (a) invasive species, (b) plant diseases, (c) animal diseases and (d) other emerging threats; and
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Our biosecurity is paramount – it underpins safe food; protects human, animal and plant health; and supports a prospering economy and trade. We have in place robust measures to maintain and improve our ability to understand, detect, prevent, respond and r...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether steps to strengthen care for (a) ME, (b) Long Covid and (c) other infection-associated chronic conditions will be included in plans to bolster the UK’s preparedness for future pandemics.
Department of Health and Social Care
Ensuring that the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in our approach to pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable cap...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 20 of his Department's Opening Statement to Module 4 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, published 15 January 2025, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) de
Department of Health and Social Care
The estimated total averted hospitalisations, severe hospitalisations, and deaths for the spring and autumn 2023 boosters were:- 1,654 hospitalisations, 108 severe, and 508 deaths for the spring 2023 booster program in those aged 75 years old and over; an...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 20 of his Department's written opening statement to Module 4 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry of 20 December 2024, INQ000474799, on what evidential basis his Department said t
Department of Health and Social Care
The evidential basis refers to page four of the COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report: Week 38, published by Public Health England on 23 September 2021. The report is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/614c53a28...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 20 of his Department's written opening statement to Module 4 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry of 20 December 2024, INQ000474799, on what evidential basis his Department said t
Department of Health and Social Care
The evidential basis refers to page four of the COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report: Week 38, published by Public Health England on 23 September 2021. The report is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/614c53a28...
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of waiting until the publication of the final Module 3 Covid-19 Inquiry report to (a) recognise the role of airborne transmission of SARS-Cov-2 a
Department of Health and Social Care
NHS England maintains efforts to evaluate potential revisions to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM), which aim to maintain high infection, prevention, and control standards. Any updates will ensure consistent application across h...
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