Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure effective collaboration between the four UK public health authorities and their EU counterparts once the transition period ends.

The United Kingdom is open to exploring cooperation between the UK and the European Union on matters of health security, as well as on commitments on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prevention, in future relationship negotiations with the EU. The Government is committed to establishing a future relationship that benefits the whole of the UK. There are strong existing relationships between the UK's four public health agencies and their counterparts in EU Member States and we work closely with them to protect our citizens from cross-border threats to health, such as the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The UK remains committed to working with countries and partners from across the world, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, such as the World Health Organization, G7 and the Global Health Security Initiative and we will continue to uphold all of our commitments under the International Health Regulations.