Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Imperial College COVID-19 response team Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand, published on 16 March; and in particular that report's assessment of the impact of the UK's mitigation measures on (1) deaths, and (2) the capacity of the NHS.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is responsible for ensuring that timely and coordinated scientific advice is made available to decision-makers, to support United Kingdom cross-Government decisions.

In fulfilling this role, SAGE considers a wide range scientific evidence. SAGE is supported in this role by a sub group (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, SPI-M) that consists of members from Public Health England and experts from several academic research groups at UK universities. SPI-M considers the modelling work of all its members to reach a consensus view.

The report Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand, published on 16 March, is an important strand of the scientific evidence informing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 emergency.