Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how lessons learned from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Resilience and Preparedness Module 1 Report are being implemented and tracked across defence and civil emergency plans.

The Government is committed to learning the lessons of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. The recommendations from the Module 1 report have informed the Government's wider approach to resilience and pandemic preparedness, including the UK Government Resilience Action Plan and the Pandemic Preparedness Strategy, and has strengthened national exercising and lessons-management arrangements.

Within Defence, these lessons are reflected through the ongoing review and development of Defence pandemic and resilience arrangements, including the Defence Pandemic Management Plan, to ensure alignment with evolving cross-government plans and policy.

Defence also participated in Exercise PEGASUS, the UK's national pandemic preparedness exercise, which tested cross-government arrangements and Defence's contribution to a future pandemic response.

The lessons learned from this exercise are being combined with the recommendations of the remaining Covid Inquiry modules to generate the next stage of improvements. Defence continues to review its own plans and capabilities as national policy develops.

Defence and Civil Emergency Plans are distinct. Civil authorities remain responsible for preparing for and responding to domestic emergencies.