Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19 Inquiry

Thursday 22 June 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Government are committed to learning lessons from the covid inquiry.
  • The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster maintains oversight of resilience, working with devolved Administrations.
  • Exercises involving the use of the emergency alert system are conducted to ensure preparedness for future disasters.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Emma Lewell Lab South Shields
NHS
Context

The Labour MP questioned the government's commitment to co-operating fully with the UK's independent public inquiry into the response to the pandemic, citing court actions and legal costs.

Question

What recent steps has his Department taken to co-operate with the UK covid-19 inquiry? I thank the Minister for that answer, but far from co-operating the Cabinet Office is taking the inquiry to court to block access to information, and the Government are set to spend in excess of £50 million of taxpayers' money on solicitors to protect current and former Ministers. What do they have to hide?

Answer from Jeremy Quin

The Government are committed to getting to the truth on covid. There will be a lot of lessons to learn. We are following a process, and it is incredibly important for the country and the future Governments of the UK that we learn the lessons. We have nothing to hide from the inquiry, but there is one specific technical difference between us and the inquiry and it is right that those things are sorted out in the law courts, as is normal in such circumstances.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specifics of what the government has to hide by blocking access to information

How: Process Answer

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Q2 Emma Lewell Lab South Shields
NHS Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Context

The Labour MP questioned the Government's approach to resilience and preparedness, citing critical statements made by the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the covid inquiry about past mistakes in this area.

Question

We must learn the lessons from the covid inquiry. It was “ludicrous in retrospect”, a “relatively small part” of the brief, “wildly under-resilient” and a “disaster for the country”—not my words but those used by the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the covid inquiry this week to describe the Government's approach to resilience and preparedness for the past 13 years. He also said it was a huge error not to have a senior Minister solely devoted to resilience. Will the Secretary of State finally listen to Labour and appoint a dedicated Minister for resilience?

Answer from Jeremy Quin

There is a resilience Minister in the sense that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster maintains oversight of resilience. That is one of a number of responsibilities shared with the devolved Administrations—resilience is important in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. I look forward to meeting my colleagues from those Administrations next week in Edinburgh to discuss these issues. We take resilience extraordinarily seriously.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific commitment to appoint a dedicated Minister for resilience

How: Deflection

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Q3 Fleur Anderson Lab Putney
Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
Context

The Labour MP questioned the government's commitment to learning from emergency exercises and ensuring that changes are made based on these lessons.

Question

We will keep asking. I am glad that the Paymaster General mentioned emergency response exercises, which are essential for learning the lessons from covid and for being ready for whatever disaster comes next. As the senior Minister for resilience, among many other things, will the Paymaster General tell us how many exercises have been carried out locally and nationally in the last year? Is he ensuring that lessons are learned, changes are made and good practice is shared to make all our communities safe?

Answer from Jeremy Quin

Exercises take place locally and nationally. The exercise involving the use of the emergency alert system for the first time ever, to ensure that we have that important pillar in our response, illustrates how seriously we take these issues. We will continue to undertake exercises to ensure that we are as prepared as anyone ever can be for the circumstances that we can plan for and try to project.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The number of emergency response exercises conducted and specific measures ensuring lessons learned from them

How: Process Answer

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