Commons Sense

House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement

Exercise PEGASUS – Pandemic Preparedness

16 September 2025 · Department of Health and Social Care

Proposed by Ashley Dalton Lab West Lancashire

NHS

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

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At a glance

Key points

  • Exercise PEGASUS, a national pandemic preparedness exercise, begins on September 18th, 2025.
  • The exercise aims to assess the UK's ability to respond to a pandemic across all government departments and devolved governments.
  • Exercise PEGASUS will run from September to November 2025, with additional recovery phases planned for 2026.

Issue summary

The statement confirms the commencement of Exercise PEGASUS, a national pandemic preparedness exercise.

Action requested

On September 18th, Exercise PEGASUS will begin to assess the UK's ability to respond to a pandemic. The exercise involves all government departments and devolved governments and is set to take place from September to November 2025 with additional recovery phases in 2026.

Key facts

  • A pandemic remains the top risk on the UK’s National Risk Register.
  • Exercise PEGASUS will be the largest ever simulation of a pandemic in UK history.
  • The exercise involves every Government Department, Devolved Governments, Arms-Length Bodies, and Local Resilience Fora.
  • Core exercise days are confirmed for 18 September, 9 October, and 30 October, simulating emergence, containment, mitigation phases.
  • A recovery phase is planned for 2026.
  • The UK Government has committed to communicating findings through a post-exercise report.
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