COVID-M2.14 Response Under Consideration AI-assessed

Accessible Emergency Communications

Recommendation

The UK government and the devolved administrations should each develop action plans for how government communications will be made more accessible during a pandemic. As a minimum, these should include making provision for the translation of government press conferences into British Sign Language (and Irish Sign Language in Northern Ireland) and the translation of key announcements into the most frequently spoken languages in the UK.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The COVID-19 Inquiry's Module 2 report, published on 2025-11-20, recommended that the UK government and devolved administrations develop action plans for accessible emergency communications, including British Sign Language translation for press conferences. As of 2026-03-18, no government response to this specific recommendation has been publicly received, and no related action plans have been identified in the provided official sources.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 18 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Under Consideration
Under Consideration UK Government Initial Response
20 Nov 2025

No government response yet received. Module 2 report published 20 November 2025.

Read Full Response
No Published Response Scottish Government Follow-up
20 Nov 2025

No formal response published by this government.

No Published Response Welsh Government Follow-up
20 Nov 2025

No formal response published by this government.

No Published Response Northern Ireland Executive Follow-up
20 Nov 2025

No formal response published by this government.

Progress Timeline
Official Report
20 Nov 2025

Status: Pending. No government response yet received. Module 2 report published 20 November 2025.

Source
Source
Inquiry COVID-19 Inquiry
Report Module 2: Core Decision-Making 20 Nov 2025
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Cabinet Office Primary
Themes & Tags
National emergency preparedness communication Equality impact assessment publication Communication Accessibility BSL Translation
Recommendation age 0.3 yrs
Last formal update 20 Nov 2025