Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Future Pandemic Preparedness

Thursday 23 October 2025 · 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 3 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Katrina Murray discussed with a supermarket general manager about lessons learned from the early days of the covid pandemic.
  • Sadik Al-Hassan, a pharmacist, inquired about discussions between the Cabinet Office and local resilience forums to ensure effective local coordination.
  • Andrew Snowden highlighted the need for continued data sharing across government agencies, referencing GDPR compliance during the pandemic.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Katrina Murray Lab Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch
Context

Following a meeting with the general manager of a major supermarket, who discussed empty shelves during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the general manager of one of the major supermarkets in my constituency. We talked about our memories of the early days of the covid pandemic, with the rows and rows of empty shelves. All pandemic planning should build on the lessons learned from the last one, so what role is the retail and logistics sector playing in that?

Answer from Dan Jarvis (Minister of State, Cabinet Office)

My hon. Friend is right: businesses that move and sell vital goods are an essential part of any pandemic response. The resilience action plan, which was published in response to module 1 of the covid-19 inquiry, seeks to enable a whole-of-society approach to pandemic resilience. As part of that effort, we invited businesses to participate in the ongoing national pandemic exercise, Exercise Pegasus.

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Q2 Sadik Al-Hassan Lab North Somerset
NHS
Context

The questioner is a pharmacist who worked on the frontline throughout the pandemic.

Question

As a pharmacist who worked on the frontline throughout the pandemic, I would like to ask what discussions the Cabinet Office has had with local resilience forums to ensure that areas such as my North Somerset constituency have the local co-ordination structures needed to respond effectively to a future pandemic, particularly given the strain on our community health service?

Answer from Dan Jarvis (Minister of State, Cabinet Office)

I thank my hon. Friend for his vital work on the frontline during the pandemic. The Government absolutely recognise that the most complex emergencies impact the whole system. That is why there has been extensive engagement with local partners ahead of Exercise Pegasus. The exercise will test national-to-local co-ordination arrangements, and lessons from the exercise will help strengthen pandemic preparedness at national and local levels.

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Q3 Andrew Snowden Con Fylde
Context

During the pandemic, Government agencies discovered ways to comply with GDPR for data sharing. Since then, there has been a reluctance to share data due to GDPR.

Question

During the pandemic, Government agencies, bodies and Departments suddenly discovered ways to comply with GDPR to share significant amounts of data, which was critical to managing the pandemic response. Since then, the shroud of using GDPR as a reason not to share data has once again choked opportunities to solve the big problems facing our society. As part of his work on resilience planning, will the Minister ensure that data is shared with Departments on a day-to-day basis in future, to get around the use of GDPR as a reason not to share it?

Answer from Dan Jarvis (Minister of State, Cabinet Office)

The hon. Member makes a sensible and constructive point, and I can give him the assurances he seeks. Since January, increasing our preparedness has included publishing an updated central crisis management doctrine—the Amber Book—as well as launching the biothreats radar to improve data sharing. We have also, as I have said, undertaken the largest ever national pandemic planning exercise.

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