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Grand Committee
Covid-19 and the Courts (Constitution Committee Report) - Wed 23 Mar 2022
Ministry of Justice

Mentions:
1: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (LAB - Life peer) the lack of preparedness, we were told that the Government’s simulation of a flu pandemic in 2016, Exercise - Speech Link
2: Lord Thomas of Gresford (LDEM - Life peer) There was no governmental risk planning; if there was, it was confined to Exercise Cygnus, which of course - Speech Link

Select Committee
Seventh Report - Coronavirus Act 2020 Two Years On

Inquiry Publications Mar. 18 2022

Inquiry: Coronavirus Act 2020 Two Years On
Inquiry Status: Open
Committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Found: response to a serious in˜uenza pandemicŒExercise Cygnus.

Scottish Parliament Debate - Committee
Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1 - Thu 03 Mar 2022

Mentions:
1: None preparedness, which was reduced because we had not maintained stocks or acted on the findings of the Cygnus - Speech Link

Lords Chamber
Government Contracts: Randox Laboratories - Mon 21 Feb 2022
Department of Health and Social Care

Mentions:
1: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (LAB - Life peer) My Lords, the Government held a full-scale exercise in 2016 based on pandemic flu, Operation Cygnus. - Speech Link

Commons Chamber
Covid-19: Purchasing Effort - Thu 03 Feb 2022
Department of Health and Social Care

Mentions:
1: Barbara Keeley (LAB - Worsley and Eccles South) I remind the Minister that we could have had a stockpile of PPE in this country if Exercise Cygnus in - Speech Link
2: Edward Argar (CON - Charnwood) Members across the House have regularly said that Exercise Cygnus gave everyone everything they needed - Speech Link
3: Clive Efford (LAB - Eltham) What is absolutely clear from Exercise Cygnus is that the specific recommendations on PPE were not implemented - Speech Link

Select Committee
Professor Jeff King (Professor of Law at University College London (UCL)), Dr Ronan Cormacain (Senior Research Fellow at Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law), and Dr Ruth Fox (Director at Hansard Society)
 University College London (UCL), Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, and Hansard Society

Oral Evidence Jan. 27 2022

Inquiry: Coronavirus Act 2020 Two Years On
Inquiry Status: Open
Committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Found: Some of this enormous Act was based on draft legislation prepared after Exercise Cygnus.One of the necessary

Select Committee
12 January 2022

Oral Evidence Jan. 19 2022

Inquiry: Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for government on risk
Inquiry Status: Open
Committee: Public Accounts Committee

Found: Looking at figure 9 on page 47, why were the exercises Winter Willow and Cygnus, relating to influenza

Westminster Hall
Covid-19: Forecasting and Modelling - Tue 18 Jan 2022
Department of Health and Social Care

Mentions:
1: Miriam Cates (CON - Penistone and Stocksbridge) cannot model the interactions of human beings that easily.The tragedy is that this was not a paper exercise - Speech Link
2: Aaron Bell (CON - Newcastle-under-Lyme) me, so my models got better and better.The problem we have with covid is that we cannot repeat that exercise—there - Speech Link
3: Fleur Anderson (LAB - Putney) Government, then led by Gordon Brown, made heavy investments in pandemic planning.Cut to 2016, Operation Cygnus - Speech Link

Tweet
Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South) - @karinsmyth
Shadow Minister (Health)
17 Jan 2022, 11:44 a.m.

Failures during COVID and crucially failure before. Ignoring pandemic warnings, no learning lessons from Exercise Cygnus which they refused to publish. https://t.co/vQpKNROwEr

Link to Original Tweet

Select Committee
Royal College of Nursing
 TRE0005 - Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for government on risk

Written Evidence Jan. 12 2022

Inquiry: Government preparedness for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for government on risk
Inquiry Status: Open
Committee: Public Accounts Committee

Found: registers identified an influenza pandemic as a significant risk.ii 2.4The UK Government also undertook Exercise