To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish the response to the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 4 recommendations on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to publish a (a) summary of responses and (b) response to the Equality law call for evidence, published on 7 April 2025, for the measures not covered by the Consultation on mandatory ethnicit
Women and Equalities
This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, can thrive. Therefore, as set out in our response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 report, we agree with the recommendation that commencement of the socio-economic du...
Read full answer →
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the written statement, HCWS1456, on UK Government Response to Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 Report, of 25 March 2026, what his planned timetable is for the proposed commencement of the socio-econom
Cabinet Office
This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, can thrive. Therefore, as set out in our response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 report, we agree with the recommendation that commencement of the socio-economic du...
Read full answer →
Cabinet Office
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry publishes a quarterly financial report of its costs. The latest publication for Q3 2025/26 shows that the total cost from when the Inquiry was established on 28 June 2022 to 31 December 2025 was £204m. Since the financial year 2023...
Read full answer →
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment was made of the potential merits of including an examination of the evidence base relating to the spike protein and lipid nanoparticles used in Covid-19 mRNA vaccines within the sco
Department of Health and Social Care
The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is an independent statutory inquiry. As an independent body, it is responsible for determining its own scope, lines of investigation, and the evidence it seeks. Decisions about whether to include examination of specific scientific ...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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 ...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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.
Read full answer →
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.
Read full answer →
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.
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →
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.
Read full answer →
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...
Read full answer →